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J LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



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* UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. f 



WRITINGS 



IN 



PROSE AND VERSE 



ON 



VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 



BY 

JOHN G. WILSON. 



The commonest mind is full of thoughts; some* worthy of the rarest; 
And could it see them fairly writ, would wonder at its wealth, 

Tdppeb. 



P HI LADELPHIA: 

PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR BY J. VAN COURT, 

fco. 93 ARCH STREET. 

1857. 



*$ 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1850, by 
JOHN G. WILSON, 

In the Office of the Clerk of the District Court of the United States, 
in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 



■VOL. I. 

DISCOURSES ON PROPHECY. 



It was our intention to have published this first 
volume of our Writings some years ago, and a large 
part was then printed ; but we were prevented by 
circumstances which we believe were wisely ordered 
by Providence, even in this connection, from accom- 
plishing our purpose. We have waited patiently 
and confidently for Divine direction, and we have 
been recently aided in a manner which seems to us 
just as providentially to bid us proceed in pub- 
lishing, as we were previously commanded to stand 
still. The times and circumstances appear as favor- 
able now, as they were unpropitious then. In all, 
we acknowledge the hand of God and thankfully 
adore him. 

In all departments of science new discoveries are 
considered practicable, and are commonly hailed 
with delight. Why should not new discoveries in 
Biblical truth be deemed equally so, and welcomed 
accordingly ? The Bible, as a record of God's 
thoughts and purposes in relation to the moral gov- 
ernment of his creatures, while shedding the dews 

(ui) 



IV 



of salvation abundantly upon thousands of believing 
hearts and inquiring minds, may have been, like the 
great book of nature, but partially understood. And 
the scribe, instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, 
like the diligent student of nature, is to bring out of 
this treasury things both new and old. "We trust 
that it will not be deemed presumptuous in us to 
aim, in humble dependence on God, to fulfil this duty. 
So far as our knowledge extends, no one else has 
ever taken the view of the Divine government and 
proceedings, in whole, which is presented in this 
volume. Our view, it is true, embraces much that 
is common to all evangelical expositions of the 
Scheme of Redemption. And where we think we 
have discovered new light, and have presented new 
views, we have endeavored to give the reason for 
the hope that is in us with meekness and fear. 

If any one should ask, as some have done, why 
these things were not discovered previously by the 
learned and wise and good who have diligently 
studied the Bible to find the truth ? I answer, by 
inquiring why the circulation of the blood was not 
discovered before Harvey ? and gravitation before 
Newton ? and electricity before Franklin ? The 
Bible is as rich in truth as nature is in fact. In the 
glorious sky of Revelation, as well as in the natural 
heavens, there may be stars whose light has not yet 
reached us, and which may be designed to bless the 
world in its future track; the discovery of which 
may be made by some diligent student hereafter. 
When we consider the dispensations of God as al- 
ready historically developed or prophetically inti- 



mated in his word in their connection with and 
relation to the great scheme of redemption, we ex- 
claim with Baul, " the depth of the riches both of 
the wisdom and knowledge of God ! how unsearch- 
able are his judgments, and his ways past finding 
out," — and with the Psalmist, " Thou hast magni- 
fied thy word above all thy name." 

We have not the vanity or presumption to sup- 
pose that we are above the liability to err ; but we 
have searched diligently after the truth, and have 
not written a line without conviction of its accord- 
ance with the testimony of the Divine word. If we 
have erred we shall be truly grateful to any one 
who will point out our errors, and show unto us a 
more excellent way. We ask a candid perusal of 
this volume, a thorough investigation of the views 
of the Scheme of Redemption presented in it, and 
an unprejudiced judgment respecting them. 

May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, the God of all grace and consolation, grant 
us the unction from above which shall guide us into 
all Truth. 



VOL. II. 

DISCOURSES ON THE APOCALYPSE. 



Having recently completed a series of Discourses 
oil this very interesting and important portion of 
the Word of God, we propose to make them the 
second volume of our Writings, and publish them 
in a style corresponding with the first volume. This 
We will do, as soon as, in the providence of God, 
our way may be opened to effect the same. A kind 
friend, who has already aided us in this way, has 
proposed to be one of five to contribute $100 each, 
to enable us to get the work stereotyped. Think- 
ing that there are others who would willingly aid us 
in this matter, if made acquainted with the proposal, 
we mention it to invite their co-operation, in a good 
cause. Others may be disposed to assist us by 
donations of less amount which will also be grate- 
fully accepted. And all such amounts shall, as 
God shall prosper us, be employed in benevolent 
purposes. Again, all persons may, if they will, fur- 
ther the plan by subscribing to our second volume. 
This may be done by letter, through the mail, if 
they have no other means of access to the author or 
(vi) 



his agents. The work will make about 500 pages, 
and will be $1,50 per copy, or $5 for four copies, 
bound in muslin^ and $2,25 per copy, or $10,00 
for five copies, bound in morocco, with gilt edges. 

These Discourses are of an expository character, 
in which every paragraph is separately and expli- 
citly considered, while the most complete and sys- 
tematic arrangement of the whole is preserved. 
The arrangement and classification of the Visions 
presented in this volume will be found entirely new, 
and we think so natural and harmonious, so conso- 
nant with the analogy of faith, and exhibiting the 
dispensations of God in such agreement with the 
benevolence and rectitude of his character, as to be 
commended to the enlightened judgment of all who 
are in quest of truth. And what has hitherto been 
regarded "by the generality of Christendom as a 
sealed book, will, we are confident, be made plain 
to the understanding of the intelligent reader, who 
will at least, whether he receive or reject our views, 
have the satisfaction of comprehending our mean- 
ing, and being furnished with a key to the inter- 
pretation of the symbols by which the agents, acts, 
and events predicted in this book are represented. 

We commit all to the overruling providence of 
God, and patiently wait for some clear indication 
of His will, to whom we have consecrated our Writ- 
ings for the glory of his name — the exaltation of 
his word, and the salvation of mankind. 




Engraved iy Bin' 



^^^^s^ ^^ 




DISCOURSES 



PKOPHE CT; 



BY JOHN G. WILSON, 



Minister of tlie Gospel. 



It is written, and so we believe, 

Faith hath nothing doubtful. 

Tupper. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR. 

18 50. 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1850, by 

JOHN G. WILSON, 

In the Office of the Clerk of the District Court of the United States, 
in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 



INTRODUCTION. 



To the churches of our Lord Jesus Christ, including the 
ministers and members, and to all sincere inquirers after 
truth, I humbly dedicate these Discourses on Prophecy ; 
and earnestly bespeak for them an attentive perusal for the 
truth's sake. They were first prepared for, and delivered 
to the people of my charge, two years ago ; and are now 
revised and committed to the press in compliance with the 
respectful solicitation of friends, and the humble hope of 
extended usefulness. I am aware that much has been 
published on this subject from the pens of learned and 
elegant writers, and it may be thought by many that the 
theme has been exhausted, and that it is presumptuous in 
one unknown to fame, to attempt to add any thing new or 
important to the numerous productions already issued. 
Nor am I insensible to the fact that a strong prejudice 
against this subject, as if it were one of mere speculation 
and adventure, has extensively obtained in the commu- 
nity. These things, however, discourage me not; they 
only serve to convince me that a want exists in this con- 
nexion, which has not yet been supplied ; and inspire the 
humble hope that Cod may deign to employ me, as one of 
the least of all the saints, to contribute something to its 
supply, in making all men see what is the fellowship or 
connexion of this mystery. A compendium such as it 
is proposed to furnish in these Discourses is undoubtedly a 
desideratum which hundreds would gladly possess, and all 
that they need is an assurance that this attempt will answer 
the design, to patronize the work and give to it an attentive 
perusal. I advance no claim to great learning or talents, 
and my composition may lack the meretricious ornaments 
of light literature, which indeed would not comport with 
the intrinsic merit and important bearings of the subject. 
These demand a plain and perspicuous style, so as to be 

(3) 



4 INTRODUCTION. 

understood by the unlearned as well as by the learned. 
And in this I try to cultivate a good taste and to please all 
men for their good to edification. 

The plan of these Discourses is to treat the prophecies 
in accordance with the analogy of faith ; and show in the 
prophetical records the unfoldings of the eternal purpose of 
God in the salvation of mankind by Jesus Christ. It is 
observable that those who have written on the prophecies 
have in general so far lost sight of their connexion with the 
scheme of Redemption, that one would scarcely suppose 
from the perusal of their works that there was any such 
connexion, or if any, that it was a very intimate one. Pro- 
phecies are commonly considered as detached subjects, 
which, for all that appears to the contrary, might possibly 
have been omitted in the Divine Revelation without injury 
to the main design. Hence many ministers of the gospel 
excuse their inattention to this subject as if it were a dis- 
tinct branch of Biblical science, unimportant to a proper 
understanding of Theology, and unnecessary to the qualifi- 
cation and work of a Christian minister. And some seem 
to despise it, as if it were the very essence of fanaticism, 
and unworthy of investigation, in comparison with a sort 
of spiritual knowledge which they affect. It is my aim to 
present such a view of the prophecies, as will remove this 
erroneous impression, wipe off the stigma imputed to the 
subject, and make it not only an interesting and profitable, 
but also an indispensable study to the minister of the word 
of God, and indeed to every one who wishes to understand 
what is the mystery of the kingdom of God. If I fall short 
of this object, the failure must be attributed to the want of 
skill in the writer, and not to any lack of merit and import- 
ance in the subject. 

Writers on prophecy, with a few exceptions, may be 
classified as either Literalists, Spiritualists, or Millerites, 
who agree in the simple facts of a second personal advent 
of the Son of God, and a period of great blessedness on 
earth, called the Millennium ; but differ in regard to the 
relative bearing of these anticipated events and their con- 
sequent results. Literalists believe that Christ will come 
personally before the Millennium, and with his saints reign 
over the nations during that period, and are hence termed 
Personal reign Millennarians. Spiritualists think that Christ 



INTRODUCTION. O 

will not come personally until after the Millennium, but 
that an abundant outpouring of the Spirit will subdue all 
nations to the obedience of faith during that period, and are 
hence styled Spiritual reign Millennarians. Millerites agree 
with the Literalists in the fact of the Pre-Millennial advent, 
but spiritualize the predictions respecting the return of the 
Jews to their own land, and maintain that all unbelieving 
Jews and gentiles will be destroyed with the earth in a 
general conflagration at the time of the advent, and so an 
end will be put to the work of mediation and salvation, and 
the earth reformed and beautified will become the abode of 
the saints for ever. They may consequently be designated 
as Anti-mediatorial Millennarians. But the Literalists be- 
lieve that the Jews, or natural seed of Abraham according 
to promise, will be restored to their own land at the coming 
of Christ, and that the Millennium will be a mediatorial 
dispensation, exceeding all others before it, in the excel- 
lency of its provisions, the efficiency of its administration, 
and the extent of its influence. And hence they may be 
denominated Mediatorial Millennarians. It is unnecessary 
to extend these remarks further on these differences. What 
is said will indicate sufficiently the relative position of each 
class of writers. 

The views presented in these Discourses will be found 
to accord with the Literalists on these leading points, and 
it is with pleasure I acknowledge how greatly their writings 
have contributed to confirm my mind in their truthfulness : 
and no work has been of such essential service to me in 
this respect as " The Theological and Literary Journal," by 
David N. Lord of New York, and his " Exposition of the 
Apocalypse," both of which are invaluable to the Bible stu- 
dent. There are, however, many particulars in the scheme 
to be presented in these Discourses, which, although fully 
sustained by the same rules of Scriptural exegesis, may, 
perhaps, appear to be novel to most if not all who may 
read them. And it is due to the reader as well as to the 
writer to state that they have been attained by a diligent 
and prayerful reading of the Word of God, in humble de- 
pendence upon Him for wisdom, who giveth liberally and 
upbraideth not. Nearly twelve years ago I was prompted 
under peculiar circumstances to read the Bible, and the 
Bible alone, until I had perused it several times, for the 
1* 



INTRODUCTION. 

purpose of making myself acquainted with its divine reveal- 
ings, without respect to creeds or confessions of faith. The 
result was the detection of errors I had previously regarded 
as truth, and the discovery of truths which had previously 
been unobserved by me. My mind was cast into a new 
mould. Years of study since have but tended to confirm 
my mind in the views then presented to my understanding, 
by making me more familiar with the details of the 
scheme, and furnishing me with arguments in its support. 

1 do therefore confidently propose these views to the 
candid and prayerful consideration of all inquirers after 
truth, with the humble hope and fervent prayer that their 
perusal may at least endear the Bible to their hearts, and 
lead to such an acquaintance with that precious Book, that 
they may no longer have any need of my writings. 



jUTSCOURSE first. 



PROPHECY— ITS INTRINSIC CHARACTER— STUDY- 
UTILITY. 

We have also a more sure word of prophecy ; whereunto ye do 
well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, 
until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts. 

2 Pet. i. 19. 

The prophetic word, comprising the sacred scriptures 
is very beautifully and appropriately compared to a light 
which shineth in a dark place. Like the sun on the equator, 
irradiating the globe from pole to pole, it pours its brightest 
beams indeed upon the present, but extends its penetrating 
rays into the regions of the past and the future. It illumi- 
nates the whole track of time, and sheds its effulgence on 
the revolving dispensations of God. Without it the origin 
of our race would be left to wild conjecture ; the primeval 
condition of the world would be wholly unknown ; the 
mysteries of the present insolvable, and the future veiled in 
impenetrable shades. Without it the nature, character, and 
perfections of the Supreme Being could not be understood, 
and man's wisdom had filled his place with naught but 
phantom forms. But this sacred volume is the Encyclo- 
pedia of heavenly philosophy, embracing the whole circle 
of Divine wisdom and knowledge ; and illustrating the 
principles of natural science and moral government in the 
universe of God. 

Many persons entertain the opinion that Prophecy is a 
very vague and uncertain science, which is of liitle or no 
importance to us, until after the events predicted have 

W 



O PROPHECY ITS INTRINSIC CHARACTER. 

transpired. On this hypothesis the utility of fulfilled pro- 
phecy is admitted, but the rest is regarded as useless, and 
even dangerous. This prevents them from giving due 
attention to the subject, yea more, induces them to regard 
with suspicion and distrust the efforts of others to explain 
and illustrate the unfulfilled prophecies. It is painful to 
be sensible of such a sentiment among Christians, and of 
the necessity of defending our subject from the objections 
urged against it in the house of its professed friends. To 
any one who receives the Bible as the Word of God, it 
should be enough that we are assured by the apostle that 
" All scripture given by inspiration of God is profitable for 
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in right- 
eousness." This should silence all objections, and engage 
our serious and prayerful attention to the teachings of the 
Divine Word. To vindicate the subject of our discourses 
from the obloquy cast upon it, and show its practical use 
is no unpleasant duty ; and I therefore invite your atten- 
tion to what seems proper to be noticed, 

I. — Its Intrinsic Character. — Prophecy is a revela- 
tion whereby future events are made known. Its birth- 
place is the infinite and eternal mind, as none but Jehovah 
can foretell things to come. By unerring prescience he 
seeth the end from the beginning, and calleth the things 
that are not as though they were. It is certain that he 
knows the past, the present, and the future, and can, if he 
sees proper to do so, reveal that knowledge to other minds, 
or reserve it in his own power. But he has seen proper 
to reveal to man the grand outlines of his purposes of 
grace, and make known his future operations so far as 
necessary for our good. 

Revelation is chiefly prophetical. " The testimony of 
Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Rev. xix. 10, Ethics 
form but a small portion of the sacred oracles, as they are 
in themselves necessarily few, while prophecy is uttered 



ITS INTRINSIC CHARACTER. 9 

in almost every line. The scriptures begin and end with 
prophecy. The sufferings and triumph of the woman's 
seed is the subject of the first revelation to fallen man ; 
and the comforting assurance to an afflicted church of his 
speedy coming is the last. Tho account in the first chap- 
ter of Genesis appears to be not only descriptive of crea- 
tion, concluded by the institution of the Sabbath, but also 
prophetical of the dispensations of God towards man in 
redemption, during the ages preceding the everlasting rest, 
or keeping of a Sabbath which remaineth to the people of 
God ; and of which the first Sabbath or rest from creation 
is a figure. And perhaps all events recorded in scripture, 
besides their historical verity as faithful narratives of the 
past, may be regarded as allegorical prophecies or illustra- 
tive types of things to come. An example of this kind is 
given in Gal. iv. 22, &c. "For it is written that Abra- 
ham had two sons, the one by a bond-maid, the other by 
a free-woman; but he who was of the bond-woman was 
born after the flesh, but he of the free-woman was by pro- 
mise. Which things are an allegory, &c." An exami- 
nation of this interesting passage cannot fail to convince 
any one of the correctness of the foregoing remarks. It 
is a divine warrant for this use of scripture history in ac- 
cordance with the analogy of faith. The ceremonial 
institutions of the law were so many typical prophecies — 
the shadow of good things to come : and we may confi- 
dently affirm of the particulars of that obsolete economy, 
that not one of them shall fail or want its parallel in the 
fulfilment of God's plan. Besides these we have the 
clearer predictions of the prophets concerning the first ad- 
vent of Christ and the grace accruing to man ; " Searching 
what or what manner of times, the Spirit of Christ which 
was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the 
sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." 
1 Pet. i. 10, 11. These form a large portion of the Old 



10 ITS INTRINSIC CHARACTER. 

Testament scriptures. The New Testament also contains 
many predictions of future events. The discourses and 
parables of Christ, the prince of prophets, not only 
abound with moral instruction, but have a rich vein of 
prophecy running through them. The Apostolic Epistles 
also are replete with warnings and promises of things to 
come : and the whole closes with the " Revelation of Jesus 
Christ, which God gave unto him, to show to his servants 
things which must shortly come to pass." Rev. i. 1. 

Prophecy is history written by the pen of inspiration 
before the events take place, yet is as certain as if they 
had actually transpired. Nothing can prevent their 
accomplishment. To suppose a failure would imply im- 
perfection and error in the foreknowledge of God, which 
is preposterous ; for every word of God is a tried word. 
Its infallible certainty is the foundation of Christian faith. 
On this rests the pillars of Protestantism. This furnishes 
security to our trust in God. This fortifies the soul in the 
time of trial. This is the sure word of prophecy- — a 
light in a dark place — darting its bright beams into the 
obscure future and revealing things to come. Take up 
this holy book and you will find that for four thousand 
years, prophecy alone shed the light of salvation upon a 
dark world, and awakened desire in the bosoms of kings 
and prophets and righteous men. And shall we now 
question the wisdom which so constructed the word of 
life ? Can we teach God knowledge ? Are we wiser 
than he ? Shall we lightly esteem and treat with neglect, 
the grand medium which God has used in making known 
to man the exceeding riches of his grace and kindness 
towards us ? Rather, let us obey the commandment of 
Christ and search the scriptures, the prophetic scriptures, 
more attentively and prayerfully, that the word of Christ 
may dwell in us richly, in all wisdom and spiritual under- 
standing. 



THE STUDY OF PROPHECY. 11 

II.— The Study of Prophecy.*— This is one of the 
most interesting and profitable that can engage our atten- 
tion. It is the duty of all to whom the Word of God 
comes, to study it, and make themselves acquainted with 
its contents. No one is justified in neglecting it. The 
apostle says that ye do well to take heed to it. It is a 
sure and true light and not an ignis fatuus. It will not 
mislead you, but will guide your feet into the way of sal- 
vation. " By the study of the prophetic word," says 
Roos, " the heart is weaned from the world, placed upon 
celestial objects, and prepared for entering on the enjoy- 
ment of pure, uninterrupted, and eternal bliss." And in 
the preface to the Revelations, it is solemnly declared that 
" Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words 
of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written 
therein ; for the time is at hand." Rev. i. 3. But, alas ! 
how much is this study neglected even by Christians, 
while multitudes of professors enervate their minds and 
defile their hearts by the light and frivolous trash with 
which our modern press teems. A careless and super- 
ficial habit of reading is thus contracted which utterly 
disqualifies them for the study of the Bible : hence it is 
regarded as a dull and insipid book. Alas ! they know 
not what they lose ; for by patient, persevering, prayerful 
study we obtain a knowledge of the truth which is better 
than gold, and more precious than rubies. The sacred 
page beams with a celestial light; the understanding glows 
with the inspiration ; the heart warms with emotions of 
gratitude and praise, and we become sensible of a more 
than human power operating on the soul. 

In the study of prophecy we need the influence of the 
Holy Spirit. Christ says, " When he the spirit of truth 
is come, he will guide you into all truth ; for he shall not 
speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall 
he speak, and he will shoic you things to come. He 



12 THE STUDY OF PROPHECY. 

shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine and shall 
show it unto you." And though this referred particularly 
to the inspiration of the apostles ; yet the ordinary opera- 
tions of the same spirit are promised to us. And if we 
ask we shall receive. Hence also the prayer of faith is 
necessary, and with the Psalmist we should say in our 
supplications to God, " Open thou my eyes that I may 
behold wondrous things out of thy law." 

If we do not become acquainted with the truth it will 
be our own fault. "The wise shall understand." And 
to be wise in this connexion implies the use of proper 
means to arrive at a knowledge of the truth, as well as a 
practical regard to the obedience it requires. We must 
bring to this study an humble and teachable spirit. Some 
persons have a set of previously conceived opinions, the 
result of circumstances or of a peculiar theological training, 
and they read the Bible more to confirm themselves in 
their own views than to find the truth. No wonder if God 
should give them up to strong delusions that they might 
believe a lie. Such are ever learning and never able to 
come to the knowledge of the truth. This does not mili- 
tate against the study of the prophecies. It is true that 
in the prophecies are sqme things hard to be understood, 
which the unlearned and unstable wrest as they do also 
the other scriptures, to their own destruction. Some have 
inferred from this declaration of Peter, that the study of 
the prophecies are dangerous, and that none but priests and 
learned men ought to read them. But the apostle means 
not so. He shows that it is the neglect of this study which 
is dangerous. It is such as are mere novices in doctrine 
and unsettled in faith, that are exposed to such danger ; 
and not such as are humble and prayerful inquirers after 
truth ; for he exhorts us as new-born babes to desire the 
sincere milk of the word that we may grow thereby. And 
God filleth the hungry soul with good things, but those 



THE UTILITY OF PROPHECY. 13 

already filled with their own notions he sendeth empty 
away. When the mind is pre-occupied with vain conceits 
there is no roomjor the verities of Bible truth. Such as 
think themselves wise must learn their folly first and seek 
the teachings of the Spirit that they may be wise. 

III. — The Utility of Prophecy is the next point to be 
considered. It is generally conceded that fulfilled pro- 
phecy is useful as furnishing clear evidence of the authen- 
ticity of the scriptures and arming the Christian with a 
powerful weapon against infidelity. And this is indeed a 
very important use of prophecy. The revelation of future 
events is a demonstration of divinity. By this test the 
fallacy of idolatrous and magical pretensions are detected, 
and the rightful claim of the only living and true God 
established. Hence the challenge in Isa. xli. 21-23, 
" Produce your cause, saith the Lord ; bring forth your 
strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob : let them bring 
forth and show us what shall happen ; let them show the 
former things what they be, that we may consider ihem ; 
or declare us things to come. Show the things to come 
hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods." To this 
challenge the heathen oracles are dumb, and the God of 
Israel stands confessed in the light of prophecy as the only 
and universal Lord. 

In the examination of this subject we obtain the most 
satisfactory evidence of the truth of God's word. Here is 
proof upon proof, accumulating age after age, for thousands 
of years, in a wonderful succession of events which no 
human wisdom could have foreseen. We have but to 
take our stand on the ruins of Nineveh, Babylon, Tyre, 
and other cities, with the Bible in our hand, and the hiss- 
ing serpent, the hooting owl, the howling beast, the dancing 
satyr, and the murmuring wave will mournfully answer 
to the divine predictions uttered by the Lord's prophets 
while those cities yet stood in all their glory and strength. 



14 THE UTILITY OF PROPHECY. 

The state of Jerusalem and every wandering son of Abra- 
ham bears unequivocal testimony to the authenticity and 
truthfulness of that word which declared, eighteen hundred 
years ago, that Jerusalem should be trodden down of the 
gentiles, and the Jews remain a dispersed, though separate 
people, on the face of all the earth, until the times of the 
gentiles be fulfilled. Surely the Book in which these 
things were so circumstantially described hundreds of years 
before they took place, must be of divine origin. Hence 
our faith does not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the 
power of God. 

But prophecy is also the instrumentality of salvation. 
The preaching of the gospel is termed prophesying, be- 
cause it is no more than a proclamation of fulfilled pro- 
phecy in the first advent of the Son of God for the 
redemption of man ; and of unfulfilled prophecy to be ac- 
complished at his second advent when the mystery of 
God shall be finished, and he shall give reward unto his 
saints, and them that fear his name, both small and great. 
Thus Paul in describing his ministry says, " Having there- 
fore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, wit- 
nessing both to small and great, saying none other things 
than those which the prophets and Moses did say should 
come ; that Christ should suiFer, and that he should be 
the first that should rise from the dead, and should show 
light unto the people and to the gentiles." The gospel 
was contained in the first prophecy which, in the bosom 
of fallen man, inspired the hope of redemption from sin 
and death, through the suffering seed of the woman, des- 
tined to bruise the serpent's head. The gospel was 
preached to Abraham in the prophetical promise, " In thy 
seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." And 
again to David in the promise of a son to sit upon his 
throne, with whom his kingdom should be established for 
ever. These primary revelations of the divine purpose 



THE UTILITY OF PROPHECY. 15 

are the nucleus of all the prophecies, and the sum and 
substance of the gospel of Christ, which is the power of 
God and the wisdom of God unto the salvation of every 
one that believetfu These truths as unfolded in the scrip- 
tures enlighten the mind and sanctify the heart. They 
show man his depravity and danger, and point out the 
only way of salvation. Therefore despise not prophesy- 
ing, for it is the channel of pardoning mercy, strengthening 
grace, and purifying hope. 

Again, prophecy is a vehicle of solemn warning to man 
that he may flee from the wrath to come and find refuge 
in the ark of salvation. The destruction of the antedilu- 
vian world was the subject of prophecy. Gen. vi. 3, may 
be rendered thus, " And God said, My Spirit shall not pass 
sentence on man unwarned ; because he is flesh ; there- 
fore his days shall be one hundred and twenty years." And 
" by faith Noah being warned of God of things not seen as 
yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his 
house, by which he condemned the world, and became 
heir of the righteousness which is by faith." Heb. xi. 
7. The world heeded not the prophetical warning and 
perished. Attending to the warning of our blessed Lord 
concerning the destruction of Jerusalem the Christians 
watched the opportunity and fled from the devoted city, 
and escaped the direful calamities which fell upon the un- 
believing Jews. And throughout the scriptures there is a 
general tenor of prophetical warning, designed to awaken 
man to a sense of his danger as a sinner, and induce him 
to seek an interest in Christ. In the epistles we are 
solemnly warned against the rise of Anti-Christ — of peril- 
ous times — of false prophets — and of scoffers who should 
deny the coming of our Lord. Surely it is our duty to 
give heed to the warning, and avoid the delusions of the 
last days. " Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these 



16 



THE UTILITY OF PROPHECY. 



things before, beware lest ye also being led away with the 
error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness." 

Finally, the great end of prophecy is not to gratify our 
curiosit}^ in making us acquainted with future events ; but 
to make us wise unto salvation, by exciting us to a dili- 
gent preparation for tbe second advent of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. It is, alas ! possible to have the understanding 
enlightened upon this subject while the heart remains un- 
changed, and the individual be dead in trespasses and sins. 
A man may have a clear view of the chain of prophetical 
events and find pleasure in the study of prophecy in its 
historical connexions, while he takes not a single step to 
secure his own salvation. Many are no doubt led to 
investigate this subject out of a vain curiosity, and to pry 
into things beyond what God has seen fit to reveal. They 
have attempted to particularly define times and fix dates, 
which God has reserved in his own right, and have lived 
to see the failure of their schemes, and have been obliged to 
retract their assertions. Much discredit has, in this way, 
been brought upon the study of prophecy ; and great mis- 
chief has accrued to those who have been the dupes of 
their errors. 

So far as God has revealed his purpose respecting both 
times and events we are entitled to search into them with 
an obedient heart : indeed it would be doing dishonour to 
God himself to neglect or slight, as unworthy of our no- 
tice, what he has seen important to reveal to us in his 
word. But if the study of prophecy do not make us better 
Christians ; if it do not strengthen our faith in Christ ; if 
it do not quicken our zeal in the discharge of duty ; if it 
increase not our love more and more ; if it do not induce 
more patience and hope, and crucify us to the world, we 
study it to little purpose. 



DISCOURSE SECOND 



INTERPRETATION OF PROPHECY— GENERAL SCOPE 
AND TENOR— COMPARING SCRIPTURE WITH SCRIP- 
TURE GRAMMATICAL CONSTRUCTION LAN- 
GUAGE, DIRECTOR FIGURATIVE— SYMBOLS— PRAY- 
ERFUL DEPENDENCE ON GOD. 



Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any 
private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by 
the will of man ; but holy men of God spake as they were moved 
by the Holy Ghost.— 2 Pet. i. 20, 21. 

In commending the study of the prophecies to your 
attention, we are met in the very outset with the important 
question, Can they be understood ? for if their meaning is 
inexplicable all research is vain. Do they constitute a 
labyrinth where every one is lost who ventures to explore 
it? If darkness reigns within, and dangers crowd that 
darkness, we halt upon the threshold. Many persons 
esteem the prophecies so mystical and abstruse as to be 
incomprehensible ; an opinion fostered, in some degree, 
by the variety of conflicting expositions which have ap- 
peared on the subject. And, at first blush, the supposition 
seems reasonable that when so much discrepancy exists 
among learned men, who should be best qualified for such 
investigations, it is idle and presumptuous in the unlearned 
to expect any approximation to a correct understanding of 
them. But such reasoning would set aside the study of 
other scripture, as well as the prophecies ; for learned men 
have differed and still differ in opinion upon every subject 
of importance within the compass of revelation. But what 
Christian would neglect the Bible on that account? It 
may be a very good reason why we should be cautious 
about receiving the dogmas of men ; but none at all for 

2* (17) 



18 INTERPRETATION OF PROPHECY 

discarding the Word of God. Rather it should induce 
every one, awake to the importance of salvation, the more 
attentively to search the scriptures for himself. 

But some intimate that there is great danger to be 
apprehended from the study of prophecy ; that it destroys 
their spirituality, and fills their minds with speculative 
theories and fanciful notions, which end in unbelief and 
irreligion. Can it be possible that salvation may be 
periled by the very means God gives us to obtain it 1 
If so, it must be to the curious and presumptuous who, 
not content with what is revealed, with daring hand 
would draw aside the inner veil, and pry into the secret 
things of God, or fill their censers with unhallowed fire, 
and insult the Lord in the sanctuary of his holiness. To 
the sincere and humble inquirer after truth there is no 
danger. He may not, indeed, be able to determine pre- 
cisely the time, place, and circumstances of the events 
predicted ; but he learns enough to stir him up to watch- 
fulness and prayer, and confirm his faith in God. Fear 
not, then, with thy Savior's warrant, to search into the 
illuminated future. For what though many have returned 
with loads of error, there is much of truth mingled with 
it all — grains of precious gold in heaps of sand. But 
error is like lead, which soon grows dull and loses all 
its lustre ; while truth is like a diamond, that ever sparkles 
with a native brilliancy. We want a touchstone to test 
the precious metal; and what authoritative standard is 
there for the settlement of disputed questions but the 
Bible ? There is no other crucible in which to free the 
truth from error. " To the law and to the testimony, if 
they speak not according to these things, there is no light 
in them." The Bereans were more noble than the 
Thessalonians, because they searched the scriptures daily 
to see whether the things they heard accorded with the 
Divine standard. 



INTERPRETATION OF PROPHECY. 19 

The apostle having called our attention to the sure 
word of Prophecy, proceeds in the passage under con- 
sideration to give a suitable admonition respecting its 
interpretation. " Knowing this first, that no prophecy 
of scripture is of any private interpretation," &c. This 
may be regarded as a divine canon, embracing several 
important particulars. The necessity for a rule of inter- 
pretation must be admitted, and expositors generally have 
commenced their labors by laying down principles of 
interpretation as the basis of their theories. In most 
cases, however, they have been formed arbitrarily, in 
view of some preconceived opinion, and without reference 
to scriptural authority. Confusion has been the result. 
That the law of interpretation should be found in the 
sacred volume itself, is what might reasonably be ex- 
pected. The naturalist finds in the subject of his con- 
templation, whether animal, vegetable, or mineral, the 
laws which govern the science. The astronomer learns 
his rules of philosophy from an observation of the heavenly 
bodies. And may we not conclude that the Book of 
Revelation, which comes from the same hand, contains 
the law of its interpretation ? This is no vain conjecture. 

" A glory gilds the sacred page, 
Majestic like the sun ; 
It gives a light to every age : 
It gives — but borrows none." 

But where shall we find this law if it is not here, and in 
such corresponding passages of scripture as tend to 
amplify and illustrate this ? And that it is found here, 
is evident, for as much as the nature of the subject 
treated of by the apostle required it. His theme is the 
power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ — the grand 
theme of revelation — the main subject of prophecy, an 
event of which the transfiguration to which he refers was 



20 INTERPRETATION OF PROPHECY. 

a miniature representation, but which is more fully de- 
clared in the more sure word of prophecy to which he 
exhorts them to take heed. Then follow the words of 
our selection. Thus he inculcates the study of prophecy, 
and then lays down this as a first principle or law of 
scriptural exegesis. We should therefore carefully ex- 
amine and religiously observe this law of interpretation 
in all our investigations of this important subject. What 
then saith the law ? 

This passage of scripture has been the subject of much 
criticism, and different renderings have been given, ex- 
pressive of different ideas. The Papists claim it as 
authority for denouncing the right of private judgment, 
and refusing the Bible to the common people. The 
Rhemish Testament has the following note in loco, " The 
scriptures cannot be rightly expounded of every private 
spirit or fantasy of the vulgar reader, but by the same 
spirit wherewith they were written, which is resident in 
the church." And by the church they commonly mean, 
either the Pope, or a general council, or a council with 
the Pope at its head. But the fallacy of their scheme is 
clearly demonstrated by the fact that Popes have con- 
demned Popes, and councils have condemned councils, 
just as their opinions and passions predominated. It is 
also adverse to the words of the apostle, who would have 
the people take heed to the word, and not to be deprived 
of it. 

Some learned men so render the passage as to signify 
that no prophecy is of any private impulse, or of the 
prophet's own finding out. But this is inadmissible, inas- 
much as in the next verse this is assigned as a reason for 
the rule, which cannot therefore mean the same thing. 
The original word rendered interpretation (sTtav^^s) sig- 
nifies loosing a knot, or untying a bundle so as to reveal 
its contents, and plainly refers to some rule or principle 



GENERAL SCOPE AND TENOR. 21 

of scriptural exegesis, by which the meaning of prophecy 
may be unfolded. The word rendered private (ihlae,) 
signifies also one's own, separate, and has been translated 
by Frazer, in lris^' Key to the Prophecies," by the term 
insulated., which makes not only a fair and grammatical 
rendering of the passage, but agrees with the analogy of 
scripture. The sense then is that no prophecy of scrip- 
ture is to be interpreted by itself or disjoined from the rest 
of scripture. There is an essential connexion and depend- 
ence of the parts one upon another, and each mus-t be 
considered in its relation to the whole. This then is the 
rule : 

" That no prophecy of scripture is of any separate 
interpretation; for the prophecy came not in old 
time by the will of man : but holy men of God spake as 
they were moved by the Holy Spirit" 

Let us consider this rule more particularly ; It requires 
I. That all the prophecies be understood accord- 
ing TO THE GENERAL SCOPE AND TENOR OF THE SAME. 

For we must recollect that all scripture, having been given 
by inspiration of God, though at sundry times and in 
divers manners, and by different prophets, is a grand 
whole. There is one general scope or design running 
through all the parts. There is but one scheme in the 
whole Bible ; the work of one mind ; and its several parts 
are illustrated and explained by the whole. Hence no 
single prophecy is of an isolated character. It occupies 
its place in the general scheme and must not be separated 
from the rest. For as there is in the human system a 
mutual sympathy of the members in their dependence one 
upon another, so that the eye cannot say to the hand, I 
have no need of thee ; nor the head to the feet, I have no 
need of you ; so in the general scheme of prophecy, each 
part has its respective relation to the whole, and is neces- 
sary to the perfect understanding of the same. And it is 



22 GRAMMATICAL CONSTRUCTION. 

not probable that the true signification of any particular 
prophecy would be discovered from a bare attention to it 
alone, without comparison with other parts, by which its 
relation and bearing to the whole may be determined : 
just as a separate wheel of a complicated machine would 
require to be put in its proper place to give us a correct 
idea of its nature and use. 

II. That we diligently compare one part of scrip- 
ture with another. The study of scripture is made 
our imperious duty by the command of Christ, and the 
teachings of his apostles, and this rule shows the necessity 
of not only searching all the scriptures, but of comparing 
the different parts one with another. So the apostle Paul 
in 1 Cor. ii. 12, 13, says : "Now we have received, not 
the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God ; 
that we might know the things that are freely given to us 
of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words 
which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost 
teacheth ; comparing spiritual things with spiritual." 
This method of investigation will require close applica- 
tion, constant attention, and much patience ; but the result 
will be ample compensation for the labor. What is of 
greater importance than a knowledge of the truth ? The 
merchandise thereof is better than silver, and the gain 
thereof than much fine gold. Yet how many like Pilate 
ask the question, What is truth ? and are too impatient to 
wait for an answer. But wisdom says, " Blessed is the 
man that heareth me ; watching daily at my gates, waiting 
at the posts of my doors." Prov. viii. 34. 

III. That we faithfully adhere to the words of 

SCRIPTURE ACCORDING TO THEIR GRAMMATICAL CONSTRUC- 
TION AND RECEIVE THE LITERAL SENSE AS THE ONLY TRUE 

one. In the 16th verse of this chapter reference is made 
by the apostle, to the heathen oracles, which he styles 
cunningly devised fables, being the invention of designing 



GRAMMATICAL CONSTUCTION. 23 

priests, and so constructed as to admit of various interpre- 
tations : for the oracles themselves being ambiguous, the 
sense was determined agreeably to the caprice or fancy of 
those who consulted them. But it is not so with the 
Divine oracles, for the prophecy came not in old time by 
the will of man, no human ingenuity was concerned in 
their construction, but holy men of God spake as they 
were moved by the Holy Spirit. Hence the words were 
not uttered at random, nor chosen as the fancy of the 
prophet might prompt ; but they were divinely selected 
under the mysterious impellings of the spirit by which 
they spake. These prophecies, therefore, have a precise 
and determinate meaning, to be ascertained from a know- 
ledge of the words themselves, according to their gram- 
matical construction. And the true interpretation of 
prophecy proceeds upon the signification of words, and 
determines the sense by the language. This excludes all 
fanciful conjecture and imaginative opinions. The busi- 
ness of the interpreter is, not to seek for new and curious 
expositions of his own, or others' invention, but to find 
the sense of the words, in which is made known the mind 
of the spirit. For we cannot suppose that the spirit uses 
the words in any strange and uncommon sense ; but only 
according to their usual acceptation as signs of ideas. We 
ought, therefore, to use the best helps we can obtain to 
ascertain the natural and obvious meaning of the terms 
employed, and receive the same as the testimony of God. 
As Vitringa justly observes, " We must never depart from 
the literal meaning of the subject, mentioned in its own 
appropriate name, if all or its principal attributes square 
with the subject of the prophecy." 

This system of interpretation, designated the literal, 
takes the natural, obvious and grammatical sense of the 
word in opposition to that which is spiritual, occult or 
mystical. It is not intended by this to discard a spiritual 



24 LANGUAGE-DIRECT. 

understanding of the word of God, or discernment of divine 
truth in accordance with the teaching of the spirit, as re- 
ferred to by Paul in 1 Cor. ii. 14. " But the natural man 
receiveth not the things of the spirit of God : for they are 
foolishness unto him ; neither can he know them, because 
they are spiritually discerned." Or such as the Savior's 
language imports in John vi. 63. " It is the spirit that 
quickeneth : the flesh profiteth nothing ; the words that I 
speak unto you they are spirit and they are life :" but that 
" pernicious rule of interpretation" mentioned by Mosheim 
in his Ecclesiastical History, Cen. III. Pt 2, ch. iii. sec. 5, 
by which Origen, the prince of spiritualizers, was led to 
assert, that " the words of scripture were, in many places, 
absolutely void of sense, and that though in others there 
were, indeed, certain notions conveyed under the outward 
terms according to their literal force and import, yet it was 
not in these that the true meanings of the sacred writers 
were to be sought, but in a mysterious and hidden sense, 
arising from the nature of the things themselves." And 
which assumes the spirituality of the events predicted, and 
merely employs the words of scripture in an allegorical 
sense ; and is what Professor Bush calls " a sublimated 
conception of the spiritual mysteries of revelation," in 
opposition to " its literal and palpable representations." 
Treat, on Millen. 49. 

The language of prophecy is either direct or figurative. 
When direct, the principal subject is at once presented to 
the mind by the natural sense of the words employed ; 
except in cases of symbols, where the subject of the 
language is the representative of some analogous person or 
thing. See the prediction of Christ concerning the destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem in Matt. xxiv. 2 : " Verily I say unto 
you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another, 
that shall not be thrown down." This prophecy is 
couched in direct language, and obtained its literal accom- 



LANGUAGE-FIGURATIVE. 25 

plishment about forty years after, when the Romans 
destroyed the city, and not only razed the temple to its 
foundations, but ploughed the ground on which it stood. 
Prophecies, thus"expressed being free from allegory and 
metaphor are seldom wrested from their obvious import : 
yet they have not all escaped, for much ingenuity has been 
displayed in the invention of spiritual expositions of some 
of them to make them square with the dogmas of scho- 
lastic theology. 

When the language of prophecy is figurative, the prin- 
ciple subject is represented to the mind through the medium 
of tropes, metaphors, allegories, &c, and is subject to the 
grammatical rules which govern that species of composi- 
tion. Of this sort was our Lord's prediction concerning 
his own death and resurrection, John ii. 19. " Destroy 
this temple and in three days I will raise it up :" v. 21. 
" But he spake of the temple of his body." Here the 
word temple is used figuratively to represent the body of 
Christ which after having been crucified was raised up the 
third day. The language is figurative : the events pre- 
dicted — his death and resurrection — real : and were after- 
wards literally fulfilled. In like manner we look for the 
literal fufilment of all the prophecies, whether the lan- 
guage employed to convey their purport be direct or 
figurative. Nor do we deem it safe to depart from this 
rule. 

Wherever figures occur they may generally be easily 
distinguished from the direct or plain language : as when 
Christ .says "I am the vine ; ye are the branches." Every 
person perceives that he employs the terms vine and 
branches figuratively to represent the relation subsisting 
between himself and his disciples. No one dreams of 
such an absurdity as that Christ meant that he was literally 
a vine or that he was changed into a vine, or that he was 
even a spiritual vine. Where this style is employed we 



26 SYMBOLS, ETC. 

have only to determine the character of the figure and the 
sense is easy. 

In describing symbols, the language employed may be 
both direct and figurative as in the description of the 
symbols of the sixth seal, Rev. vi. 12-14. " And I be- 
held when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo there was a 
great earthquake ; and the sun became black as sackcloth 
of hair, and the moon became as blood ; and the stars 
of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a Jig tree casteth 
her untimely Jigs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. 
And the heavens departed as a scroll when it is rolled 
together; and every mountain and island were moved out 
of their places." But these symbols are themselves repre- 
sentatives of analogous objects and events, i. e., the earth- 
quake, the sun, the moon, the stars, the heavens, the 
mountains and islands are representatives, each having 
its appropriate signification ; and the changes which are 
predicated of them, represent analogous changes in the 
objects which they represent Symbols are sometimes 
accompanied with an explanatory clause which serves as 
an index to the subject represented by them, and which 
is like a key tied with a string close to the lock, that we 
may have help at hand to aid in their solution. 

IV. — An humble and prayerful dependence on 
God for a true understanding of his word. — 
James says " If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask it 
of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not, 
and it shall be given him." But let him ask in faith 
nothing wavering. And in respect to his word as well 
as his providence it may be said : 

" Blind unbelief is sure to err 

And scan his work in vain : 
God is his own Interpreter, 

And he will make it plain," 



PRAYER NECESSARY. 27 

Take then his word, and study it with a sincere desire 
to become acquainted with the truth, not for vain glory, 
but to be made wise unto salvation, and you will assuredly 
find your miniLopened to a perception of its heavenly 
beauties. Much that was dark and mysterious before 
will become clear and easy of comprehension. You will 
find Christ in all the prophecies. His sufferings and 
glory are here unfolded, and make the study delightful 
to them that love him. 

May God abundantly replenish us with his holy 
Spirit, and excite our minds to deeper devotion ; that we 
may not only understand what we read in the sure word 
of prophecy, but diligently reduce it to practice, that we 
maybe counted worthy to escape those things which shall 
come upon the earth, and to stand before the Son of 
man. 



DISCOURSE THIRD. 

THE GENERAL SCHEME— THREE PRIMARY REVELA- 
TIONS—TO ADAM, TO ABRAHAM, TO DAVID. 

Then said he unto them, O fools and slow of heart, to believe 
all that the prophets have spoken ! Ought not Christ to have suf- 
fered these things, and to enter into his glory 1 And beginning at 
Moses, and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the 
scriptures the things concerning himself. — Luke xxiv. 25-27. 

When we read of the journey to Emmaus on the 
morning; of Christ's resurrection, we feel as if we would 
like to have been in company with Cleopas and his fel- 
low-traveller, while Jesus talked to them by the way, and 
opened to them the scriptures. No wonder their hearts 
burned within them, while the Divine Expounder ex- 
hibited to them the object of their love, as the chief theme 
of scripture story and song. Led through the garden of 
revelation they found the buds of promise fragrant with 
his name, and the trees of prophecy covered with the 
bloom of his beauty. True, the dew-drops of his sorrow 
glistened on the leaves and filled the flower-cups; but 
they served to heighten the glory by the contrast. Had 
we been there, we should have learned much of the 
general scheme of prophecy. The divine purpose would 
have been unfolded to our view ; our errors would have 
been corrected, and the different predictions would have 
appeared to us as so many scinctillations of one eternal 
mind, issuing from the throne of God and converging 
again in the complete redemption of man by Jesus Christ 
our Lord. But conjecture is vain. The discourse is 
not recorded. It was not necessary. We turn again to 
the more sure word of prophecy, diligently comparing 

(28) 



GENERAL SCHEME. 29 

scripture with scripture, that we may comprehend its 
general tenor, and find the key that shall unlock its most 
intricate wards. 

We have already spoken of the general tenor of scrip- 
ture — a grand Bible scheme — in accordance with which 
the several parts of prophecy agree, and by which they 
are to be interpreted. The mistakes of errorists and the 
cavils of infidels are mainly attributable to their want of 
attention to this point. Infidelity, like a fly, whose sight 
extends but a few inches around itself, lights upon some 
single point in the spacious dome of prophecy, and find- 
ing something at which to cavil, presumes to condemn the 
whole, from a misapprehension of an imperfectly con- 
sidered part. And errorists, like the three men in the 
story of the Chameleon, are ready to affirm that the thing 
is blue, or black, or green, just as they may have hap- 
pened to view it in the shade of their own peculiar 
notions. To such, and all others, who, like the disciples 
at that time, fix their mind on one single point of pro- 
phetic truth, and overlook the rest, the words of Jesus 
are applicable, " fools ! and slow of heart to believe 
all that the prophets have spoken." Ought ye not to 
have considered the whole, and learned the general tenor 
of the word of truth ? 

I have already intimated that the chief subject — the 
general theme of prophecy, is Christ. He is the alpha 
and omega, the beginning and ending — the first and the 
last. All things were created by him and for him ; and 
he is before all things, and by him all things consist. 
And the work of Redemption, to which the prophets 
bear witness, is his work. A work which angels desire 
to look into, which is the great subject of the whole 
Bible ; of its doctrines, its promises, its types, its songs, 
its histories, and predictions. This is expressed by the 
words, " He expounded unto them in all the scriptures 
3* 



30 PRIMARY REVELATIONS. 

the things concerning himself." These things are 
referred to as being comprised under two general heads, 
which distinguish the teachings of prophecy. They are 
the sufferings of Christ, and the glory of Christ; the 
former of which were fulfilled at his first advent, and the 
latter to be manifested at his second advent, when he shall 
come again the second time, without sin unto salvation. 
Here, then, we are furnished with a clue to the general 
scheme, and shall proceed at once to its examination and 
illucidation. To this end your attention is particularly 
invited to those three primary revelations concerning our 
Lord Jesus Christ, given to Adam, Abraham and David, 
and which are the sum and substance of all prophecy. 

I. God revealed his purpose of redemption to our first 
parents immediately after the fall. The revelation cor- 
responded to the necessity and circumstances of the case. 
The particulars of the scheme were not developed, but 
the principal features stand out in bold relief. They 
respect the sufferings and triumph of the woman's seed, 
by whom redemption was to be effected. God said to 
the serpent, which had beguiled Eve, " I will put enmity 
between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and 
her seed ; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise 
his heel." The sufferings of Christ are expressed by the 
phrase " bruise his heel," and his triumph over the ser- 
pent by the phrase " bruise thy head." The Hindoos 
represent one of their deities whom they call Vishnoo 
under two different aspects. In the first he is repre- 
sented as wrapped in the coils of a serpent, whose fangs 
are fastened in his heel, and in his countenance is depicted 
the keenest distress. In the second he stands with his 
foot upon the head of the serpent, holding its lifeless body 
extended in his hand ; the countenance is lighted up with 
joy, and a crown of glory encircles his brow. The first 
aspect is called Vishnoo suffering, the second Vishnoo 



PRIMARY REVELATIONS. 31 

triumphant. These representations have an undoubted 
allusion to the Divine declarations respecting the conquest 
to be achieved by the seed of the woman over the ser- 
pent, a traditionary knowledge of which was probably 
retained among the families of mankind long after the 
dispersion consequent upon the confusion of tongues. 

The evident design of this revelation was to make 
known the saving truth, that the Son of God should be- 
come incarnate, and at his first manifestation suffer for 
the sin of the world, and at his second manifestation 
appear in his glory as the mighty conqueror over sin and 
death. This was the first revelation of the covenant of 
grace, and was made known when Christ entered upon 
the work of reconciliation. It was no doubt accompanied 
with religious rites and confirmed by sacrifice, to be per- 
petuated according to divine appointment, as an expression 
of faith, until the seed should come, and by his sufferings 
make atonement for the sin of the world. The tempter 
had succeeded in beguiling man to ruin, but this gave 
assurance of final redemption, indicating that the power 
of evil should be broken, and man delivered from the 
empire of death by the destruction of him that hath the 
power of death, which is the devil. Then the curse shall 
be removed from the earth and the bloom of Eden clothe 
the wilderness with beauty and the desert with fruitfulness. 

II. At the calling of Abraham, another occasion was 
presented for an enlargement of the revelation, wherein the 
divine purpose was more fully disclosed. It does not 
appear that any particular separation of the people of God 
from the rest of mankind had been previously made, unless 
it was in the case of Melchizedec and his small dynasty 
whereof we shall have more to say in a subsequent dis- 
course. But God now called Abraham to separate him 
and his posterity from the rest of the world as a peculiar 
people to himself. In so doing he began to develop the 



32 PRIMARY REVELATIONS. 

scheme of redemption more fully. The promise to Abra- 
ham, as we find it recorded in several parts of the book 
of Genesis, comprehends the whole plan, and brings to 
light several particulars of it. In the phrase " And in thy 
seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed," Gen. 
xxii. 18, particular reference is made to Christ, who is 
pre-eminently the seed of Abraham, according to promise, 
and the restorer of holiness and happiness to man. Of 
course he is no other than the seed of the woman, and his 
bruising the serpent's head, will be a blessing to all the 
nations of the earth. 

But there is reference also in this promise to the saints 
of God, who are believers in Christ Jesus, and of whom 
Paul says, " If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, 
and heirs according to the promise ;" Gal. iii. 29 ; which 
imports the future exaltation of the saints of God as co- 
heirs with Christ, and kings and priests with him in his 
future mediatorial reign over the earth, when " he who 
blesseth himself in the earth, shall bless himself in the 
God of truth ;" and which is to take place in the new 
heavens and the new earth as God hath promised. Isa. 
Ixv. 16-25. 

But the promise does not overlook the natural seed of 
Abraham, who were chosen in the wisdom of God for the 
accomplishment of special objects in connection with the 
redemption of our race. " To whom pertaineth the adop- 
tion, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of 
the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose 
are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, 
Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever ;" Rom. 
ix. 4, 5 ; and who according to the scriptures are to be 
made in their future restoration a name and a praise 
among all people, and a blessing in the midst of the land. 

The inheritance promised to the seed of Abraham is 
likewise of a complex character, including not only the 



PRIMARY REVELATIONS. 33 

land of Canaan, and the further grant of all the land from 
the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates ; but 
embracing the whole earth, as Paul intimates in Rom. iv. 
13, where Abrafiam and his seed are said by promise to 
be heirs of the world (xocr^oj). This view regards Pales- 
tine itself as a kind of sanctum sanctorum of the whole 
earth ; — an Eden in the world. In this will be the sanc- 
tuary, the dwelling-place of the King of kings, and the 
portion of his saints in their glorified bodies, surrounded 
by the court of Israel or natural seed of Abraham after 
their restoration. Hence the promise is sure to all the 
seed, not to that which is of the law only ; but to that 
also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father 
of us all before God, who quickeneth the dead and calleth 
the things that are not as though they were. Jesus Christ, 
then, who is pre-eminently the seed, shall inherit it ; for 
it is called Immanuel's land, and of him it is written, that 
he shall inherit all nations, and have the uttermost parts 
of the earth for his possession, being the heir of all things. 
And the saints of God shall inherit it, being the seed of 
Abraham by faith, co-heirs with Christ, to whom the 
kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the king- 
dom under the whole heaven shall be given. And the 
natural seed shall inherit it, for though now dispersed 
abroad, and scattered among the nations, they shall be 
restored to their own land, and be planted there, and 
removed no more for ever ; for they are beloved for the 
fathers' sakes ; and the gifts and callings of God are with- 
out repentance. Nor shall these conflict one with another 
in their possession of it ; inasmuch as the whole shall be 
arranged in the utmost order and harmony according to 
the infinite wisdom of the divine giver. This arrange- 
ment contemplates the Lord Jesus Christ as Head over 
all — the saints as co-assessors with him — and the natural 
Israel as the first of the nations, — but all for the general 



34 PRIMARY REVELATIONS. 

goocl, that the promise, " In thy seed shall all the nations 
of the earth be blessed," may be fulfilled in its fullest 
sense. 

This promise also rendered the doctrine of the resurrec- 
tion more clear ; for though the destruction of evil in the 
bruising of the serpent's head imported as much, for " as 
in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive ;" 
yet the promise of the land of Canaan to Abraham per- 
sonally, as an everlasting inheritance, makes it indisputable, 
inasmuch as it requires the resurrection of Abraham from 
the dead to fulfil it ; for in the days of his pilgrimage he 
had not so much given to him as to set his foot on. But 
God promised to give it to him and must fulfil his promise. 
The same remarks apply to Isaac and Jacob, heirs together 
with him of the same promise ; and is hence referred to 
by our Savior, in his reply to the Sadducees as a proof of 
the resurrection ; which they could not deny without 
questioning the veracity of God. Of this resurrection 
Christ is the first fruits ; and afterwards they that are 
Christ's at his coming, at which time Abraham and his 
seed shall enter into the promised inheritance. 

This promise also requires the restoration of the natural 
seed of Abraham, who have never as yet possessed the 
promised land in accordance with the terms of the grant. 
They have held it but a little while and subject to frequent 
interruptions, but God has promised it to them for ever and 
unmolested. So it is said that if Joshua had given them 
rest, and the promise had then been fulfilled, God would 
not have spoken of another day ; but God has spoken of 
another day in which the promise shall be fulfilled ; and 
to this end the providence of God has preserved them as 
a distinct people in the earth, scattered among all nations 
but not mixing with them. 

III. The purpose of David to build a magnificent 
temple for the worship of God, and wherein God might 



PRIMARY REVELATIONS. 35 

dwell as he had promised, on the supposition that now 
God had given them rest, and was about to fulfil his 
promise in its largest extent, furnished a third occasion 
for the revelattorTof another feature of the Divine plan. 
The terms of it as recorded in 2 Sam. vii. 12-16, and 
1 Chron. xvii. 11-15, are of such a character as to apply 
only to the future establishment of the kingdom of our 
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is evident that David 
understood it to relate to a distant period, " a great while 
to come,''' 1 and of a more than ordinary personage, for he 
exclaims, " And what manner of man is this, O Lord !" 
This prediction, it is true, includes in it an inceptive or 
typical fulfilment in the reign of Solomon, who built the 
first temple ; and to which he refers in the dedicatory 
prayer ; but it is only in Christ the son of David that it 
can be completely verified. To him alone is applicable 
in the fullest sense, " I will be to him a Father, and he 
shall be to me a Son," as Paul shows in his Epistle to 
the Hebrews. And with him only shall the kingdom be 
established for evermore. Hence David was furnished 
with the subject of most of his prophetic psalms, in which 
he celebrates the glories of the King of Israel who " shall 
have dominion from sea to sea, and from the rivers unto 
the ends of the earth." 

This kingdom is presented in various aspects, as it is 
considered in relation to different times and dispensations, 
relating to its incipient, progressive, and perfected con- 
dition : but it is always one and the same in itself, a 
glorious hierarchy wherein Christ is king ; his saints 
reign with him ; and all nations are the subjects of his 
righteous government. This kingdom will be set up at 
the second coming of Christ, in power and great glory. 
This is to be the grand result of the dispensations of 
grace, and bears a relation to all. 

This kingdom is called by different names — the king- 



36 PRIMARY REVELATIONS. 

dom'of God — the kingdom of heaven — the kingdom of 
Christ — and the everlasting kingdom. Its founder is 
God — its principles are heavenly — its king is Christ, and 
its duration will be never ending. This kingdom shall be 
given to the saints as its annointed kings and priests — the 
restored Jews shall enjoy its richest benefits in the land 
of promise, but its blessings shall extend to the remotes' 
lands, and in the seed of Abraham shall all the families of 
the earth be blessed. And the Seed of the woman shall 
bruise the serpent's head, when he shall destroy the 
powers of darkness, and redeem the earth from the curse 
of sin. 

We have now briefly considered these three primary 
revelations in which the grand outline of the plan is given. 
According to the design of God this plan has been carried 
on through successive ages, during which there has been 
a. contest waged between the serpent and the woman's 
seed. The disclosure of the plan has kept pace with the 
progress of the work of redemption. At first it was 
necessary only to make known the purpose of God to 
destroy the works of the devil — to remove the curse 
from the earth — to restore the Eden lost by sin — to give 
life to the dead, and glory to the obedient. And fallen 
man, while groaning under the curse and writhing in the 
folds of the old serpent, can, by faith in the promised 
Deliverer, look forward to certain triumph over all his 
power, when Satan shall be bruised under his feet. In 
due time the Abrahamic covenant was introduced, not as 
a new plan, but only a timely development of some parti- 
cular features of the original and unchangeable scheme 
of Redemption. It defined some special grants compre- 
hended in the Divine will and necessary to the com- 
pletion of it. The promise to David developed its 
political character, and placed the crown of glory on the 
head, and the sovereignty of the redeemed earth iu the 



REFLECTIONS. 37 

hand of David's Son and Lord, constituting him Head 
over all principalities and powers, and every name that is 
named, not only in this age, but in that also which is to 
come. 

how cordially we should hate sin, and flee from it 
as from a venomous serpent. Sin spoiled the fair heri- 
tage of God, and filled the world with woe. Sin made it 
necessary that Christ should suffer for us. Follow Jesus 
to Gethsemane, to the Preatorium, to Calvary. See how 
the serpent bruises his heel ! and remember that he sufFers 
all for you. Then look again, — the Savior leaves the 
tomb. The mighty conqueror leads captivity captive. 
He ascends on high — he pleads for you, and in his own 
times he will return and show to all that he is the only 
and blessed potentate, King of kings, and Lord of lords. 

Would you share in his glory ? You must be raised 
from a death of sin to a life of righteousness. By faith 
you must be a child of Abraham and an heir of God. 
How is it with you ? Is the old serpent still coiled up 
in your heart ? Are you under the dominion of sin ? 
Or, are you born from above ? Does Christ reign in 
your heart ? Do you obey his commands ? Are you 
daily striving for full redemption through the blood of 
Jesus ? Remember that if you suffer with Christ, you 
shall also reign with him. 



DISCOURSE FOURTH. 

THE DOMINION OF CHRIST AS THE SECOND ADAM. 

For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to 
come, whereof we speak. But one in a certain place testified, say- 
ing, What is man, that thou art mindful of him] or the son of man, 
that thou visitest him 7 Thou madest him a little lower than th^ 
angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honor, and didst set him 
over the works of thy hands : Thou hast put all things in subjection 
under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he 
left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all 
things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little 
lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory 
and honor ; that he by the grace of God should taste death for 
every man. : — Heb. ii. 5-9. 

An inquiry into the original constitution of the world is 
by no means vain or unprofitable ; especially viewed in 
connection with the great scheme of Redemption. What- 
ever God has been pleased to reveal in his word is worthy 
of our attention, and should not be neglected : " for what- 
soever things were written aforetime, were written for our 
learning, that we through patience and comfort of the 
scriptures might have hope." Rom. xv. 4. The con- 
templation of the Eden state of holiness and happiness 
may not only serve to remind us of what was lost by 
Adam, but to foreshadow what shall be regained in Christ; 
not only to awaken repentance for sin, but to inspire 
peace in believing: and, while it humbles us under a 
sense of our depravity, stir us up to seek salvation 
through the blood of Jesus. It is a property of the 
Divine word, that many of its revelations, like buds, have 
but little grace to the careless observer, but expand, 

(38) 



DOMINION TRANSFERRED TO CHRIST. 39 

through contemplation and prayer, and disclose all their 
hidden beauties to the eye of faith. 

The apostle, in the first chapter of this epistle, treats of 
the superiority xrPChrist to angels, founded on the excel- 
lency of his nature as the Son of God, and the greatness 
of his dominion as the heir of all things. The passage 
before us is a continuation of the same subject in con- 
nection with this world, illustrated by reference to the 
glory and dominion God gave to man when created in 
the divine image, and which, being forfeited by transgres- 
sion, is transferred to Christ, the woman's seed, by whom 
redemption is effected. For to him, as the second Adam, 
belongs the dominion forfeited by the first Adam. When 
God made man he gave him dominion, constituting him 
a sovereign in office, and subjecting the earth to his sway. 
The apostle quotes from the Septuagint, " Thou madest 
him a little lower than the angels." But the Hebrew in 
Psalm viii. 5, literally translated, is " Thou hast made him 
less than God," and is thus paraphrased by C. Wesley : 

" Foremost of created things, 

Head of all thy works he stood ; 
Nearest the great King of kings, 
And little less than God." 

The crown of empire and the sceptre of authority were 
his. All things were put under his feet. And had he 
continued in moral uprightness, the crown had never 
been removed, the sceptre had never departed. Had he 
kept his first estate, (which we think was possible,) he 
would have been confirmed in holiness and happiness ; 
Eden would still have been the capital of the world ; and 
all his posterity had rejoiced in the blessings of his 
government, until, the original design being completed, 
everlasting glory would have crowned a righteous world. 
But, alas ! the divine plan was dashed by man's (lis- 



40 DOMINION TRANSFERRED TO CHRIST. 

obedience. In the exercise of that free agency which 
belongs to intelligent beings, he voluntarily transgressed 
the law of God. Endued with power to obey the law 
and gain its bright rewards, he was also able to sin and 
reap its fearful penalty. 

" All ration als heaven arms 

With an illustrious but tremendous power, 

To counteract its own most gracious ends."— Yotjkg. 

Sin disqualified man for dominion, and he was conse- 
quently deposed from the government of the world. 
Man that was in honor abode not. " Impurity stained 
Adam's heart, and the sceptre fell from his hands. In an 
instant he became both a criminal and a slave- — depraved 
and powerless." He was dethroned and driven from 
his capital, in which all nature did him reverence, and 
doomed to toil and sorrow, till death ended his weary 
exile. We all share in the consequences of his official 
disobedience, depravity and death. We groan, being 
burdened. Our inheritance is weakness and woe. 

But God did not leave things thus. The ruin was 
great but not irreparable. Adam could not regain the 
forfeited inheritance. No man could redeem his brother 
or give to God an equivalent ransom. There was but 
one able to save— one all-sufficient — and help was laid on 
him. The Son of God, by whom all things were made, 
in obedience to the Father's will, undertook the redemp- 
tion of man and the restitution of all things. This was 
more than any created being could do. Among all the 
angelic hosts, 

« There was not a glorious mind above 
Had half the strength or half the love." — Watts 

The only begotten Son, the brightness of the Father's 
glory, and express image of his person, alone was com- 



WORLD TO COME. 41 

petent to the work; and hence the sovereignty of the 
world is transferred to him ; and, though we see not yet 
all things put under him, we anticipate the time when 
the whole eartrfshall be subdued to his sway ; when 
" there shall be given to him dominion, and glory, and a 
kingdom, that all people, nations and languages should 
serve him : his dominion is an everlasting dominion ; 
which shall not pass away ; and his kingdom that which 
shall not be destroyed." Dan. vii. 14. So that what 
the first Adam forfeited by sin, shall be fully regained 
and possessed by the second Adam, who is the Lord 
from heaven, to whom the apostle, unquestionably, 
applies all that is said in the eighth Psalm respecting 
the dominion and glory of man. 

The phrase rendered " world to come" is literally " the 
habitable earth to come," which McKnight says " signi- 
fies the heavenly country promised to Abraham and his 
seed :" and in Rom. iv. 13, this is said to be the world. 
The same word occurs in Prov. viii. 31, where Christ 
the personal Wisdom is represented, when the founda- 
tions of the earth were laid, as " rejoicing in the habitable 
parts of the earth," and having his " delights with the 
children of men." Consequently this rejoicing was by 
anticipation, and must have reference to the renewed 
earth and redeemed man, unless we suppose that he 
would rejoice in a ruined earth and sinful and miserable 
man. This is called, in Heb. xii. 2, " the joy set before 
him," for which he endured the cross and despised the 
shame. For as known unto God are all his works from 
the foundation of the world, so also the blessed Redeemer 
knew that though the earth in consequence of sin would 
oroan under the curse for a time, yet, in the end, redeemed 
by his sufferings and renewed by his power, it should 
shine in the effulgence of the Divine glory, and be peo- 
4* 



42 ANGELIC MINISTRATION. 

pled' by his redeemed and sanctified ones, among whom 
it will be his delight to dwell. 

Now the apostle saith, " But unto the angels hath he 
not put in subjection the habitable earth to come, of which 
we speak;" from which we infer that the present habit- 
able earth is in some sort under the dominion of angels : 
that, indeed, ever since the fall of the first Adam they 
have been employed by the Almighty in the management 
of affairs in this world. This seems to be the meaning of 
chap. i. ver. 7, " And of the angels he saith, who maketh 
his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire ;" and 
verse 14, "Are they not all ministering spirits?" They 
are now Jehovah's ministers, having this world put in 
subjection to them, which is the implied antithesis of their 
not having the world to come put in subjection to them. 
Their ministrations do not extend beyond ihe present dis- 
pensation of grace. It is no disparagement of the Al- 
mighty to employ these heavenly intelligences in his 
invisible government of the earth ; for " the chariots of 
God are twenty thousands, even thousands of angels." 
Whether this idea be a new or old one, it is fully war- 
ranted by numerous passages of scripture, which speak 
of angels as concerned in the management of individual 
and national affairs. 

But whatever power they now have over the world, it 
extends only to the close of this age ; for in reference to 
the dominion and government of the habitable earth to 
come, one, (i. e., David,) in the spirit of prophecy, in a 
certain place, (Psalm viii.,) testified, saying, " What is 
man, that thou art mindful of him ? and the son of man, 
that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than 
the angels ; thou crownedst him with glory and honor, 
and didst set him over the work of thy hands. Thou 
hast put all things in subjection under his feet." Now 
this is evidently transferred from the first Adam, who, 



JESUS CROWNED. 43 

though made for dominion, soon lost all by transgression, 
and is prophetically applied to Christ the second Adam, 
who, though he was in the form of God, and thought it 
no robbery to be as God, yet was made a little lower 
than the angels by incarnation, and for a time subjected 
to their ministrations. The word signifies to make lower 
in condition, and does not apply to the nature of Christ, 
who was 

" As much, when in the manger laid, 
Almighty ruler of the sky, 
As when the six days' work he made, 
Fill'd all the morning stars with joy." 

And when we contemplate this great mystery of godli- 
ness, we may well exclaim with David, " What manner 
of man is this, O Lord!" We see, then, that it is to 
man, though to a most wonderful man, indeed, that God 
has promised the dominion and glory of the " world to 
come." And since he is not only the Redeemer of the 
world, but the Son of God, the Father has not only trans- 
ferred to him all the title of the first Adam, but appointed 
him heir of all things. For in that he put all things in 
subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under 
him. And though we do not yet see all things put in 
subjection under him ; though the world is still in a state 
of rebellion against him ; though his authority is rejected 
and despised, yet we see Jesus — who was made a little 
lower in condition than the angels for the sufferings of 
death — now crowned with glory and honor by his resur- 
rection from the dead, and exaltation to the right hand of 
the Majesty on high, where he sits until his enemies be 
made his footstool. And in this we have a pledge of his 
future dominion over the world, which he hath redeemed 
by his blood. He has not yet received the government 
spoken of. His present state of exaltation to the throne 



44 CHRIST TO RETURN. 

of 'the Father is one of expectation, during which the 
grand process of preparation is going on, and the earth is 
ripening for the harvest. The diorama of political changes 
as seen in the visions of prophecy is nearly completed. 
The turning and overturning of nations and kingdoms is 
hastening that day when he whose right it is shall come, 
and God will give it to him. And then shall the king- 
doms of this world become the kingdom of our Lord and 
Savior Jesus Christ. 

In his own times 
He shall return and show to all, that he, 
The only and the blessed Potentate, 
Is King of kings and Lord of lords. And then, 
Where once derided, mocked, insulted, slain, 
The title on his cross shall deck his throne. 

We must not suppose that the low estate of Christ in 
this world was any evidence of inferiority to angels, 
though he stood in need of their ministrations ; for then 
he took upon him the form of a servant, and became 
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, to re- 
deem the world over which he is to reign for ever. And 
since in Adam all die, it was necessary that Christ should 
taste death for every man, that in him all might be made 
alive : for it is the purpose of God that every knee shall 
bow to him, and every eye behold him. Adam was the 
representative of all his race. The interest involved in 
this official investiture was life — the duty required was 
obedience — the penalty annexed to transgression was 
death. His obedience would not have made his posterity 
morally and personally righteous ; neither did his diso- 
bedience make them morally and personally guilty. But 
the blessing of life might have been secured to all by 
official obedience, as the curse of death came upon all for 
official disobedience. Hence had he not sinned, and the 
dominion of the world been confirmed in his hands, there 



HIS DOMINION ANTICIPATED. 45 

would necessarily have been a probation for his posterity 
the law of which would have had its proper sanctions in 
the rewards of the obedient and the punishment of the 
disobedient. Efence different orders would have arisen 
in the government, and different degrees of glory and 
power been conferred on the obedient : while the diso- 
bedient would have been brought under subjection to their 
rule and government ; just as now disobedient man is for 
a time subjected to the ministration of the obedient order 
of angels. And in this respect the dominion of Christ 
will resemble the original constitution. For though in 
Christ all shall be made alive, yet every man in his own 
order. Christ is the first fruit — afterwards they that are 
Christ's at his coming; and then cometh the end, or the 
last order, when the rest of mankind, according to the 
Divine plan, shall be quickened and death destroyed. 
But there will be a difference in the character of the 
resurrections, as well as in the time of them. The first 
resurrection will be one of approval ; the other will be 
one of condemnation. The first to honor ; the last to 
dishonor. The righteous shall inherit glory ; but shame 
shall be ihe promotion of fools. The saints shall be 
made kings and priests and reign on the earth with 
the Savior, but his enemies shall be made his footstool. 

Behold then the wonders of Redemption ! "Death in 
Adam — life in Christ ; the curse hung upon the cross." 
Adam sinned, and thou must die — Christ died, and thou 
must live. None can escape the death in Adam — nor 
miss the life in Christ. As sure as thou must die, so 
thou must live again. But your own order in the resur- 
rection will be determined by your own conduct, for he 
will render to every man according to his deeds ; to them 
who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory, 
and honor, and immortality — eternal life. But indignation 
and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of 



46 HIS DOMINION ANTICIPATED. 

man 'that doeth evil. Wherefore, beloved, seeing ye look 
for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him 
in peace, without spot and blameless. 

" Hope waits the morning of celestial light ; 
Time plumes his wings for everlasting flight ; 
Unchanging seasons have their march begun ; 
Millennial years are hastening to the sun ; 
Seen through thick clouds by faith's transpiercing eyes, 
The new creation shines in purer skies : 
All hail! the age of crime and suffering ends, 
The reign of righteousness from heaven descends : 
Vengeance for ever sheaths the afflicting sword ; 
Death is destroyed — and Paradise restored ; 
Man rising from the ruins of his fall, 
Is one with God, and God is all in all." — Montgomery. 



DISCOURSE FIFTH. 



ENOCH'S PROPHECY— ITS OCCASION— APPLIES TO 
THE SECOND ADVENT— TRIUMPH OF THE SAINTS 
—JUDGMENT OF THE UNGODLY. 



And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, 
saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to 
execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly 
among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly 
committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have 
spoken against him. — Jude, 14, 15. 

In no age has God left himself without witness, or 
abandoned the work of redemption. It began in Eden, 
and shall never cease until consummated in the everlast- 
ing triumph of the woman's seed over the powers of dark- 
ness. The ante-diluvian age had its ordinances of divine 
service — its altars — its sacrifices — its priesthood and its 
prophets. The brief history of that dispensation, as 
found in the first six chapters of Genesis, contains many- 
interesting subjects of contemplation, some of which it 
may be necessary incidentally to notice. We shall not 
stop to inquire how the apostle Jude became acquainted 
with this prophecy. Whether by tradition or revelation, 
it matters not. It is enough that it has been preserved 
and incorporated in the scriptures of truth. Our business 
is to ascertain its solemn import, and give heed to it as to 
a light that shineth in a dark place. 

Enoch, of the line of Seth, is called the seventh from 
Adam, it may be, to distinguish him from another Enoch, 
the third from Adam, by the line of Cain ; although a 
higher significancy may be attached to the numeral in this 
as well as in other connections. Enoch was an extra- 

5 (47) 



ITS OCCASION. 48 

ordinary man — the first of those who were moved by the 
Holy Spirit to predict future events. Looking through 
the shadows of all intervening dispensations he saw, in 
vision, the second advent and kingdom of the Son of 
Man, and proclaimed the truth to the world. It was a 
distinct annunciation of the purpose of God to overthrow 
the empire of wickedness, and subject the earth to the 
righteous dominion of his Son. It was a bright light in 
a dark age, and presented to the eye of faith the principal 
features of the promised salvation looming up in the far 
distances. Faith gave subsistsnce to the things unseen, 
and left no room for doubt. Hope anticipated its accom- 
plishment, and its effect was to purify the heart. Enoch 
lived on earth, but he breathed the atmosphere of heaven. 
He dwelt among men, but he walked with God. 

The apostle Jude deemed it necessary to exhort be- 
lievers to contend earnestly for the faith which was once 
delivered to the saints, against the abuses and corruptions 
of certain men who would creep into the church privily ; 
ungodly men, turning the grace of our God to lascivious- 
ness, and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus 
Christ. And after describing these enemies of God, and 
citing several examples of such, he tells us that Enoch, 
the seventh from Adam, had prophesied of these persons, 
saying, "Behold the Lord cometh," &c. 

I. The occasion of this prophecy was the corruption 
of the age. The world was rapidly maturing in crime. 
Ungodliness abounded. Lameck, who was also the 
seventh from Adam, of the seed of Cain, introduced po- 
lygamy, and opened the flood-gates of unbridled licen- 
tiousness and oppression, sweeping away even the forms 
of piety, and desolating the altars of God. This was no 
doubt a great grief to Enoch, as every righteous man is 
grieved with the conduct of the wicked. And as he 
walked with God so God opened his understanding and 



THE EVENT PREDICTED. 49 

revealed his purposes to him. He seems to have had a 
perception of the deluge by which the world of the un- 
godly perished, for he called his son Methuselah, signify- 
ing that " at his ^death God shall send if." And in the 
very year that Methuselah died God did send a flood of 
waters upon the earth. This is no fanciful thought, for 
names were frequently given under the inspiration of God 
and indicated future events. But the prophecy, though it 
had its occasion in the ungodliness of that age, finds not 
its fulfilment in the deluge. This was indeed a demon- 
stration of the wrath of God revealed from heaven against 
all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men ; but the 
prophet's vision extended far beyond to the triumph of 
righteousness over unrighteousness in the judgment of 
the ungodly at the second manifestation of the woman's 
seed. 

II. The event predicted is the second coming of Christ 
in power and great glory. This is evident from a com- 
parison of the 17th and 18th verses of this epistle with 
the parallel passage in the 2d Epistle of Peter, 3d chap, 
ver. 1-7. Jude says, " But beloved, remember ye the 
words which were spoken before of the Apostles of our 
Lord Jesus Christ; how that they told you there should 
be mockers in the last time, who should walk after 
their own ungodly lusts." And Peter says, This second 
epistle, beloved, I now write unto you, in both which I 
stir up your pure minds, by way of remembrance ; that 
ye may be mindful of the words spoken before by the 
holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles 
of the Lord and Savior. Knowing this first, that there 
shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their 
ungodly lusts, and saying, " Where is the promise of his 
coming?" for since the fathers fell asleep all things con- 
tinue as they were from the beginning of the Creation. 
For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word 
5 



50 THE NUMERAL SEVENTH. 

of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out 
of the water, and in the water ; whereby the world that 
then was, being overflowed with water, perished : But 
the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same 
word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the 
day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." It is 
evident that Jude and Peter speak of the same persons — 
the mockers and scoffers of the last days — and of these 
also Enoch prophesied. 

We have already intimated that the numeral seventh in 
this connection may have a special signification. Death 
was the penalty of Adam's official transgression, according 
to the terms of the prohibition "In the day that thou eatest 
thereof thou shalt surely die." Now it was not in a 
natural day of twenty-four hours that the penalty was in 
flicted ; for Adam lived nine hundred and thirty years : 
but it was in a millennial day or one thousand years, as we 
find from what Moses says in Psalm xc. 3, 4, in unques- 
tionable allusion to this very matter. " Thou turnest man 
to destruction, and sayest, Return ye children of men : for 
a thousand years are in thy sight as yesterday when it is 
past, and as a watch in the night." Man was to die in 
the day that he ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge 
of good and evil ; and immediately after he sinned God 
said, " Dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return." 
It was then that his decree turned man to destruction. It 
was then he said, "Return (to dust) ye children of men." 
For it was not on Adam only but on all his posterity the 
sentence was passed ; for in Adam all die. And here the 
psalmist couples the length of the day with the sentence. 
A thousand years being in the sight of God as a day. The 
facts of the case accord with this view, for we find that of 
all the human race 

None lived the length of a millennial day ; 
Though one had almost eked the number out. 



THE SEVENTH MILLENNARY. 51 

Hence we may infer that if Adam had not sinned he would 
have lived out the* full period of that day of a thousand 
years, and then been changed or translated to a glorified 
condition, withouT~seeing death, as Enoch was. And as 
Enoch was the seventh from Adam, it may be designed to 
intimate that in the seventh millennary from creation the 
curse shall be removed from the earth ; the dead saints 
raised and the living changed and all glorified in a mo- 
ment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, and 
caught up to meet the Lord at his coming. And Peter 
says, "But beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that 
one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand 
years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his 
promise as some men count slackness ; but is long suf- 
fering to usward not willing that any should perish, but 
that all should come to repentance." This taken in con- 
nection with what Paul says in Heb. iv. 3-9, concerning 
the rest of the seventh day, imports that the world shall 
exist six thousand years, corresponding with the six days 
of Creation, as Barnabas, one of the earliest Christian 
writers taught, and that the seventh millennary or thousand 
years should be the great sabbatism of the world ; and 
that God is long suffering toward the wicked, bearing with 
them until the time appointed, having according to his in- 
finite wisdom and foreknowledge allowed so much space 
for repentance. In the same manner the long suffering of 
God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was pre- 
paring, and his wrath delayed until all were warned of the 
approaching deluge, and called to repentance. And as it 
was in the days of Noah so shall also the coming of the 
Son of man be. 

It is further evident that this prophecy relates to the 
second advent of Christ from the fact that his coming is 
to be attended " with the myriads (/u£iocrn») of his saints, 11 
who must first be raised from the dead and caught up to 



52 THE SAINTS SHARE IN IT. 

meet him in the air. The scene is therefore fixed after 
the first resurrection and change of the saints, who shall 
by that change, of which the translation of Enoch was an 
illustration, be prepared to share in the triumph of their 
Lord. In this glorious company of redeemed and glori- 
fied ones the Lord will come. Not one will be missing. 
The whole family of the first born will be there : for the 
promise of salvation is to all the saints, and Zechariah 
says, "The Lord my God shall come and all the saints 
with thee." It will not be the martyrs only, as some have 
supposed, who will share in the triumph of the Lord ; but 
all the saints. True, there will be a difference in the de- 
grees of their glory, as there is now in the degrees of 
their piety; but no truly pious soul shall be excluded. 
There will be various orders in the heavenly hierarchy, 
and different degrees of glory and dominion assigned to 
them, which implies a previous judgment according to 
their works; and to which Paul refers when he says that 
a crown of glory is laid up for him, which the Lord the 
righteous Judge will give him in that day, and not to him 
only but to all that love his appearing. Some considerable 
time will probably elapse after the saints are caught up to 
meet the Lord in the air, before they come with him in 
open manifestation to the world. During this interval the 
Lord and his saints will be invisible to the world, and as 
Cunningham observes, " In this sanctuary of unseen and 
celestial light, the Church may probably receive from her 
Lord the institutions of his kingdom in the new earth, 
and may thus be prepared to fulfil her high office of sub- 
ordinate and yet conjunct dominion and priestly ministra- 
tions in the world to come." It is in this aspect that they 
are represented in the vision of John as singing a new 
song before the Lamb, saying, " Thou art worthy to take 
the book, and to open the seals thereof; for thou wast 
slain, and hast redeemed us to God bv thv blood, out of 



THE JUDGMENT. 53 

every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation ; and 
hast made us unto our God kings and priests : and we 
shall reign on the earth." Rev. ix. JO. Behold, the picture. 
Let faith give subsistence to the vision. It is the revela- 
tion of things which must surely come to pass. The Lord 
shall come — the saints shall be raised and changed and 
caught up to meet him in the air — they shall be made like 
him — they shall shine in his glory — they shall be prepared 
to share in his kingdom, and when he shall appear to judge 
the world they shall also appear with him in glory. " Be- 
hold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints." 

II. The great purpose of his coming is to execute judg- 
ment on all ; and to convince all that are ungodly among 
them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly 
committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly 
sinners have spoken against him." The word judgment 
signifies the righteous administration of law, as in Deut. 
xvi. 18. " Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all 
thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, through 
all thy tribes, and they shall judge the people with just 
judgment." that is, they shall administer the laws right- 
eously. This includes the abjudication of all causes, the 
punishment of evil doers, the rewards of such as do well, 
and the adjustment of civil affairs on equitable and right- 
eous principles. The simple idea entertained by most 
persons respecting a judgment is, that it consists in a 
grand court, where Christ will preside as Judge and in 
which mankind will be put upon trial. But the scriptures 
represent it differently. Thus we read, "For he cometh, 
for he cometh to judge the earth; he shall judge the 
world with righteousness, and the people with his truth." 
Psl. xcvi. 13. " For the Lord cometh to judge the earth ; 
with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the peo- 
ple with equity." Ps. xcviii. 9. "He shall judge the 
world in righteousness; he shall minister judgment to 
5* 



54 THE JUDGMENT. 

the people in uprightness." Ps. ix. 8. " let the na- 
tions be glad and sing for joy ! for thou shalt judge the 
people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth." 
Ps. lxvii. 4. And the effects of this judgment or right- 
eous administration of law are thus described, " The 
world also shall be established that it shall not be moved." 
" The Lord hath made known his salvation : his righteous- 
ness hath he openly showed in the sight of the heathen. 
He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the 
house of Israel : all the ends of the earth have seen the 
salvation of our God." " Then shall the earth yield her 
increase ; and God, even our God shall bless us. God 
shall bless us and all the ends of the earth shall fear him." 
These as well as numerous other scriptures show that the 
judgment of Christ will be a righteous government over 
the earth : and is the same as the kingdom of God, in 
which Christ, as King, " shall reign in righteousness," 
and the saints, as princes, " shall rule in judgment." Isa. 
xxxii. 1. " Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, 
and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. And the 
work of righteousness shall be peace ; and the effect of 
righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever." Isa. 
xxxii. 16, 17. 

This period will be ushered in by the punishment of 
the nations of the earth which will begin while the saints 
are in the air with the Lord, who, from his pavilion of 
clouds, unseen by the world, shall direct the storm of 
wrath which shall fall upon the heads of the ungodly. 
" For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place, to punish 
the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity ; the earth 
also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her 
slain." Isa. xxvi. 21. It will be the breaking up of all 
earthly kingdoms and states, and the overthrow of all 
worldly governments, preparatory to the setting up of the 
kingdom of Christ. It will be a time of fearful retribu- 



THE JUDGMENT. 55 

tion to the oppressive dynasties of the earth, for " then 
shall he speak to them in his wrath and vex them in his 
sore displeasure." "He shall break them with a rod of 
iron and dash Jhern in pieces as a potter's vessel." It 
will be the perdition of ungodly men ; for the Son of man 
shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and 
them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a fur- 
nace of fire : there shall be wailing and gnashing of 
teeth. They will then be convinced of all their vile say- 
ings and doings, and filled with mortification and dismay, 
when they shall see that Jesus, whose sovereignty they 
denied, coming in his glory attended by the myriads of 
his saints. Ah, what shame will cover them ! what con- 
fusion will overwhelm them ! They will be irresistibly 
convinced of truths once despised. They will hide the 
face, and tear the hair, and gnash the teeth, and gnaw 
the tongue, with very pain, and remorse when they 
shall see the despised Nazarine on his throne, and the 
persecuted saints exalted to dignity and power in his 
kingdom. 

A glance at the prophecy of Daniel will serve to show 
that the great design of his judgment is to rescue man- 
kind from wicked and unrighteous domination, and trans- 
fer the government to Christ and his saints. Thus in the 
seventh chapter of his prophecy the empires of earth are 
represented by a series of wild beasts which successively 
held dominion over the world until the coming of the Son 
of man in the clouds of heaven, to whom was given 
dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all people and 
nations and languages should serve him, and whose go- 
vernment is to be perpetual. At this time the judgment 
shall sit, and they shall take away the dominion of the 
beast to consume and destroy it unto the end ; and the 
kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom, 
under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of 



56 APPLICATION. 

the saints of the most high, whose kingdom is everlasting- 
and* extends over all. Thus he shall destroy those that 
destroy the earth, and establish a righteous government 
over the nations. For Isaiah says of Christ that " he 
shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many 
people ; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, 
and their spears into pruning hooks : nation shall not lift 
up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any 
more." Isa. ii. 4. To this righteous dominion all will be 
subjected : <* for as I live, saith the Lord, unto me every 
knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess." And 
Paul says that " he shall judge the quick and dead, at his 
appearing and his kingdom." And ere he shall deliver 
up the kingdom to God, even the Father, all the dead 
shall be raised and judged and subjected to his reign. 
Then those who live without God in the world, seeking 
their own pleasure and sinful gratifications, practically 
denying his sovereignty and rejecting his government, 
shall behold his glory and be abashed in his presence 
under an overwhelming consciousness of their ungodly 
deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all 
their hard speeches which they have spoken against him. 
Deceive not yourself, O sinner ! for God is not 
mocked ; that which a man soweth, shall he also reap. 
You cannot escape the punishment due to your sins, or 
elude the notice of his eye. Your secret crimes will be 
brought to light, your guilt will be exposed before the 
world, and shame and everlasting contempt will be your 
portion. O repent of your sins, and seek redemption 
through the mediation of Jesus, for now the Lord waiteth 
to be gracious. Make your calling and election sure by 
leading a godly life ; for the time is at hand. " Kiss the 
Son, lest he be angry and ye perish from the way when 
his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they 
that put their trust in him." 



DISCOURSE SIXTH. 



PHYSICAL CHANGES. ORIGINAL CONDITION OF THE 
EARTH— THE CURSE— HEAVENS AND EARTH OF 
OLD— THE DELUGE— HEAVENS AND EARTH THAT 
NOW ARE— THE CONFLAGRATION— THE NEW HEA- 
VENS AND EARTH. 



And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the 
earth; and the heavens are the works of thy hand?. They shall 
perish, but thou remainest ; and they shall wax old as doth a gar- 
ment ; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be 
changed : but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. 

Heb. i. 10-12. 

It must be observed that in the economy of Divine Go- 
vernment the physical is made subservient to the moral 
condition : hence the changes already made, and those 
still to be made in the earth have an immediate bearing 
on the moral condition of man. The council of Nice, in 
the fourth century taught that " the world was made (or 
created) inferior because of foreknowledge, inasmuch as 
God foreknew that man would sin." But this is cer- 
tainly a mistake, for when God made the world and all 
things therein, he said they were "very good." They 
could not therefore have been defective. Nothing was 
made imperfect in anticipation of moral depravity, else 
there would have been no occasion for change. But as 
the original condition of things was adapted to the sinless 
state of man, so the introduction of sin rendered a change 
necessary. And change has been made only when its 
necessity was apparent ; and on this principle only can 
we vindicate " eternal providence and justify the ways of 
God to man." It is unquestionable that God foreknew 
that man would transgress his laws, and determined be- 
forehand all the changes necessary to be made in the 

(57) 



58 THE CURSE. 

physical condition of the earth for man^s sake. Yet the 
original constitution of external nature was perfectly 
adapted to the character and circumstances of man as 
made in the image of God, and placed in a state of pro- 
bation. The converse attributes insincerity to the Creator 
and upsets the principles of moral rectitude. It supposes 
that God cursed the earth for man's transgressions before 
man was made, and to justify the proceeding placed him 
in circumstances to insure his fall. This would be to 
make creation a farce and providence a tyranny. 

But when man sinned then wrath began its necessary 
work as a means of mercy for human redemption. And 
God said "Cursed is the ground for thy sake ; in sorrow 
shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life ; thorns also 
and thistles shall it bring forth to thee ; and thou shalt 
eat the herb of the field : in the sweat of thy face shalt 
thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground ; for 
out of it wast thou taken : for dust thou art, and unto 
dust shalt thou return." This was the first change, 
and was evidently designed to affect the physical con- 
stitution of man, by subjecting him to labor and sor- 
row, so as to bring down his life to the dust, and insure 
the execution of the sentence " dust thou art, and unto dust 
thou shalt return." It was also designed for man's good : 
as a means of moral discipline, inducing him to repent of 
sin which bears such bitter fruit, and seek redemption 
from all evil through the woman's promised seed. If 
man had not sinned, the earth would not have been cursed. 
Eden would still have bloomed in virgin beauty, and the 
earth been fruitful as the garden of the Lord. But sin has 
blighted the fair heritage of God and marred the face of 
the earth. Nevertheless the curse itself is made a bless- 
ing in its moral bearing upon the destiny of the race, and 
shall be removed when grace achieves its plan. 

The physical condition of the earth after the transgres- 



THE CURSE. 59 

sion, was only so far removed from its original state as to 
effect in due time the execution of the sentence of death 
pronounced upon man. It is probable that none during 
the ante-diluviaiTlige died in early life. Perhaps all ex- 
cept such as may have fallen by violence, attained to hun- 
dreds of years, though all died within the Day, or Millen- 
nium in which it was said, " dying thou shalt die." And 
under this condition of things, which lasted sixteen hun- 
dred and fifty-six years, the human race had a period of 
trial. The ground under the curse was not so fruitful as 
it would have been had man not sinned ; yet its fruits 
were wholesome and nutricious. Briers and thorns ob- 
structed agriculture, and greatly increased the toil and care 
of the husbandman, yet he obtained abundance for his 
labor. The atmosphere was pure and salubrious, and few 
were the infirmities or diseases of man. Under this state 
of things a few generations only served to demonstrate 
that the physical condition of the earth was still too good 
for the moral condition of man, and that another and 
greater change was necessary. The tendency of human 
nature under the ante-diluvian age was to sensualism ; for 
all flesh corrupted its way upon the earth, and the wick- 
edness of man was great. Lust was gratified without re- 
straint, and the world was filled with violence and oppression. 

And grace was to Iasciviousness abused. 
And wickedness increased, till only one, 
Of all his generation faithful stood, 
Whose altar was the only shrine of truth, 
Where glowed the holy fire of love, unquenched 
Amid a deluge of iniquity. 

Hence to preserve the truth, the world had to be de- 
stroyed. The change necessary to be rriade required the 
destruction of the whole race, except the righteous rem- 
nant, designed to repopulate the world under circumstances 
more favorable to the purposes of redemption. To this 



60 HEAVENS AND EARTH. 

change reference is made in 2d Pet. iii. 5-6. " By the 
word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth 
standing out of the water and in the water: whereby the 
world that then was, being overflowed with water per- 
ished." Of this he tells us the scoffers in the last days 
are willingly ignorant, when they assert that all things 
continue as they were from the beginning of Creation. 
These scoffers are willing to be imposed upon, if the im- 
position will furnish them with a license to indulge their 
lusts without fear. They eagerly catch at false premises 
for the sake of a desired conclusion. The position as- 
sumed by such is that no change has ever taken place in 
the earth sufficient to warrant the conclusion that any such 
as is predicted by the word of God will take place. The 
apostle convicts them of ignorance and presumption and 
on the truthfulness of the Divine word asserts that this 
world was once destroyed by water. 

The terms " heaven and earth" are used primarily and 
in direct language to convey to our mind the idea of the 
visible universe as comprising the globe on which we 
dwell and the heavenly bodies which surround us; as in 
Gen. i. 1, "In the beginning God created the heavens 
and the earth" and ch. ii. 1, " Thus the heavens and 
the earth were finished, and all the host of them." But 
they are figuratively used to represent empires and king- 
doms, as we find in Isa. xiii. 13, where the destruction of 
Babylon is predicted under the terms as figures, " There- 
fore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove 
out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and 
in the day of his fierce anger," which in v. 19, is thus 
expressed, " And Babylon the glory of kingdoms, the 
beauty of the Chaldee's excellency shall be as when God 
overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah." The same terms are 
also applied to other kingdoms. They are used as sym- 
bols in Rev. xx. 11, " And I saw a great white throne, 



HEAVENS AND EARTH. 61 

and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the 
heaven fled away : and there was found no place for 
them." In their most extensive figurative signification 
they seem intended to represent the physical and political 
condition of the world ; and in this sense they are em- 
ployed in 2d Pet. iii. 5-7,13, where they represent the 
world before the flood, the world that now is and that 
which is to come : " for this they willingly are ignorant 
of. that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and 
the earth standing out of the water and in the water ; 
whereby the world that then was being overflowed with 
water, perished : but the heavens and the earth which 
are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved 
unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of 
ungodly men. Nevertheless we, according to his promise, 
look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth 
righteousness." Here the terms " heavens and earth of 
o/c/," are put in opposition to the " heavens and earth 
that are now," and these in opposition to the u new hea- 
vens and new earth," which according to his promise we 
look for. Hence the terms cannot signify the visible uni- 
verse for that still exists. The heavenly bodies were not 
affected by the deluge, nor was the globe itself destroyed. 
The same sun shines to us that shown to the ante-dilu- 
vians ; the same moon reflects her borrowed light ; and 
the same stars their nightly courses keep. We tread the 
same earth they trod. But the condition of things is en- 
tirely different. The former state, its morals, politics and 
physical arrangements have passed away and given place 
to the present. Whence it is evident that the scriptures 
in speaking of the heavens passing away and the earth 
being removed, do signify no more than some great 
change or revolution in the physical or political state of 
things or in both as the case may be : and no where in- 
tend, as some suppose, a destruction of the visible uni- 
G 



62 THE DELUGE. 

verse. The changes of the physical condition of the 
earth are referred to in our text, " And, Thou, Lord in 
the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth and 
the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall 
perish, but thou remainest ; and they shall wax old as 
doth a garment : and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up 
and they shall be changed." For as the physical is sub- 
servient to the moral ; so these changes have respect to 
the necessities of the moral state, and after answering the 
end designed, are like a vesture or outer garment, worn 
out in the use, to be laid aside for another, better adapted 
to secure the great aim of all — the redemption o-f man. 

It is commonly supposed that the deluge simply over- 
flowed the earth, and then subsided leaving it in much the 
same form and condition in which it was before; but 
the end to be accomplished by it justifies a different con- 
clusion. It was not merely to destroy the ungodly inha- 
bitants then existing that God sent a flood of water upon 
the earth ; but to produce such changes in the climate, 
soil and productions of the earth as to abridge the period 
of human life and reduce the days of man to a hand- 
breadth. , Moses pathetically alludes to this in Psalm 
xc, " Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they 
are as a sleep, in the morning they are like grass that 
groweth up. In the morning it flourisheth and groweth 
up ; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth. For 
we are consumed in thine anger, and by thy wrath we are 
troubled. Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our 
secret sins in the light of thy countenance. For all our 
days are passed away in thy wrath ; we spend our years 
as a tale that is told. The days of our years are three- 
score years and ten ; and if by reason of strength they 
be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sor- 
row ; for it is soon cut off and we fly away." If then as 
is here intimated, the physical changes produced by the 



THE DELUGE. 63 

deluge were the occasion of shortening the term of human 
life, they must have been of a thorough and continuous 
character. Had there been no change in the form and 
position of the earth, it might, after the waters subsided, 
have recovered its former state, which would have led to 
a repetition of the longevity and sensualism of the ante- 
diluvian age. This the divine wisdom and goodness in- 
tended to prevent. And we find that under the effects of 
the changes introduced the life of man gradually became 
shorter and shorter, till its measure is fixed at threescore 
and ten years, which few comparatively exceed, and mul- 
titudes never reach. How suitable the prayer, " so teach 
us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts 
unto wisdom." 

When God gave the earth its antediluvian form, he said, 
" Let the waters under the heavens be gathered to one 
place and let the dry land appear. And God called the 
dry land, earth ; and the gathering together of the waters 
called he seas." From this we learn that in what is 
termed its chaotic state, the land was all under water : 
that by the fiat of the Almighty the dry land became 
elevated, probably through the instrumentality of internal 
fires, and threw up its mountainous ranges and extensive 
plains : that the waters then rushed into the vacuum thus 
formed and filled up the interior of the globe from pole to 
pole. The land on this hypothesis would form one un- 
broken belt, spanning the globe like a ring, with its moun- 
tainous region immediately under the equator, and ex- 
tending in gradually sloping plains on each side until 
bounded by the seas covering the north and south poles ; 
justifying the declaration in Ps. xxiv. 2, " For thou hast 
founded it (the earth) upon the seas and established it 
upon the floods." 

Skeptics have asked, " Where did God find water 
enough to drown the world ?" This question is based on 



64 HEAVENS AND EARTH THAT ARE NOW. 

the supposition that the earth had its present form before 
the flood, and was merely overwhelmed with water for 
the purpose of destroying the ungodly ; in which case it 
would require a vast amount of water in addition to what 
there now is to cover the tops of the highest mountains 
29,000 feet above the level of the ocean. On the same 
assumption it might be asked, '*' What became of so much 
water? How was it again exhausted?" But the diffi- 
culty is obviated on the above hypothesis for the same 
amount of water which covered the earth in its chaotic 
state, would suffice to cover it again when " the fountains 
of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of 
heaven were opened." Gen. vii. 11. For the ring or 
belt of land being broken, the earth would sink and the 
waters rise until the whole would be again submerged. 

One hundred and twenty years previous God gave 
warning to Noah, and directed him to prepare an ark for 
the preservation of himself and family and a stock of 
animals from the perdition of the world : which leads us 
to a consideration of " the heavens and earth that are 
now" For the ark surmounted the world of waters, and 
when they subsided rested on Mount Ararat, as the 
broken fragments of the former earth were formed into 
islands and continents. One year and ten days from the 
commencement of the deluge, Noah and his family, to- 
gether with the animals, came forth from the ark again to 
replenish the desolate earth. On the occasion he built an 
altar to the Lord, and took of every clean beast and every 
clean fowl and offered burnt offerings. " And the Lord 
smelled a sweet savor ; and the Lord said in his heart ; I 

WILL NOT AGAIN CURSE THE GROUND ANY MORE FOR MAN'S 

sake ; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his 
youth : neither will I again smite any more every 
living thing as I have done. While the earth re- 
maineth, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and 



HEAVENS AND EARTH THAT ARE NOW 65 

summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." 
Gen. viii. 20-22. Here we learn that the deluge was in 
its aspect to succeeding generations, a curse upon the 
earth, by whicirTfs physical condition was made worse 
than before, and better adapted to secure the moral good 
of the race. Thus grace attains its ends by means of 
wrath. Now the atmosphere is subject to sudden changes; 
the air is filled with pestilence, and poison lurks in every 
dish. Hence sickness and disease destroy the human 
constitution, and man dies with old age sooner than he 
formerly attained his prime. But all this has a moral 
effect. We are not thus circumstanced for God's pleasure 
but for our good that we may become partakers of his 
holiness. The Lord is long suffering. He was so in the 
days of Noah. He did not curse the earth until it was 
positively demanded by the moral necessity. And now 
he has assured us that^e will never again curse the earth 
for maris sake. He will never reduce it to a worse 
condition, nor place man in worse circumstances upon it. 
The present groaning misery of the world is as great as 
it ever will be. And even this must end. For he will 
destroy this present evil world. The heavens and the 
earth that are now shall pass away with a great noise ; but 
the change will be for the better. Hence the exhortation, 
" Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth." " Love 
not the world, nor the things of the world;" for " the 
world passeth away and the lust thereof." "Arise ye and 
depart (or literally " transport" your treasures to the 
world to come) for this is not your rest ; because it is 
polluted, it shall destroy you even with a sore destruc- 
tion." And " seeing that all these things shall be dis- 
solved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy 
conversation and godliness, looking for and hastening unto 
the coming of the day of God wherein the heavens being 
on fire, shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with 
6* 



66 THE CONFLAGRATION. 

fervent heat.'" " Nevertheless we, according to his pro- 
mise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein 
dwelleth righteousness." 

The heavens and earth or the condition of things as 
first created and arranged in Eden perfection, were con- 
stituted and upheld by the word of God. The language 
of our text being addressed to Christ whose name is the 
Word of God, asserts the great truth that by him all things 
were made and by him all are constituted and sustained 
in the different dispensations or ages, as Heb. i. 2, may 
be rendered " by whom also he constituted the ages." 
By the same word that condition of things was changed. 
The world that then was being overflowed with water, 
perished. And by the same word this present system is 
reserved to another change : for " they shall all wax old as 
doth a garment ; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, 
and they shall be changed." This will take place at the 
close of this dispensation, when its provisions shall have 
been abused as those of former times have been to more 
ungodliness ; for as it was in the days of Noah, so shall 
also the coming of the Son of man be. This change 
will be effected by fire, which not only figuratively sig- 
nifies the severe calamities and judgments of the last 
days, by which the ungodly shall perish, but is used also 
in direct language to express the action of caloric as far at 
least as may be necessary to purify the material earth and 
restore it to its original beauty and salubrity. But it will 
not be such a conflagration as some have imagined, who 
depict the globe as wrapt in sheets of flame, and speak 
of its being burned to ashes. It does not appear that the 
earth will be consumed at all, nor the things that are on 
its surface totally destroyed. On the contrary " the earth 
is to be established that it cannot be moved," and God 
said to Noah, "-Neither will I again smite any more 
every living thing as I have done." It is evident then 



NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 67 

that the words of Peter, " the earth also, and the works 
that are therein shall be burned up," must be understood 
so as to agree with the general tenor of scripture. Now 
we read in Isa.Hhrvi. 15, 16, " The Lord will come with 
fire and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his 
anger with fury and his rebukes with flames of fire; 
for by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all 
flesh ; and the slain of the Lord shall be many." And 
Isa. xxiv. 6, " Therefore the inhabitants of the earth shall 
be burned and/ew men left" These passages show that 
though there will be a conflagration, it will be only for 
the perdition of ungodly men, and the necessary change 
to be made in the physical condition of the earth. 
God can and will preserve all that shall be prepared to 
become the subjects of his kingdom in the new heavens 
and new earth in the conflagration of the last day 
as he preserved the three Hebrews in the midst of the 
fiery furnace. And though the slain of the Lord shall be 
many, yet there shall be a "few men left" and they " shall 
be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the cleaning of 
grapes after the vintage." (v. 13). And this is to be 
when the Lord shall come to " reign in Mount Zion and 
in Jerusalem and before his ancients gloriously." (v. 23). 
To this glorious reign the earth must be adapted. The 
curse must be removed and the physical made to conform 
to the moral state of things. The new heavens and new 
earth promised in the scriptures is thus described in Isa. 
lxv. 17-25, " For, behold, I create new heavens and a 
new earth : and the former shall not be remembered nor 
come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in 
that which I create : for, behold / create Jerusalem a re- 
joicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in 
Jerusalem and joy in my people : and the voice of 
weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of 
crying. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, 



68 NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 

nor an old man that hath not filled his days ; for the child 
shall die a hundred years old ; but the sinner being a hun- 
dred years old shall be accursed. And they shall build 
houses, and inhabit them : and they shall plant vineyards 
and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build and 
another inhabit ; they shall not plant and another eat ; for 
as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine 
elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They 
shall not labor in vain nor bring forth for trouble : for 
they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord and their 
offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that 
before they call I will answer, and while they are yet 
speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed 
together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock ; and 
dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor 
destroy in all my holy mountain saith the Lord." Isa. 
xxxv. 1, 2, "The wilderness and the solitary place shall 
be glad for them ; and the desert shall rejoice and blos- 
som as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice 
even with joy an'd singing ; the glory of Lebanon shall be 
given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon. They 
shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of 
our God." And Isa. liii. 13, " Instead of the thorn 
shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall 
come up the myrtle tree ; and it shall be to the Lord for 
a name ; for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off." 
Also Amos ix. 13» "Behold the days come, saith the 
Lord, that the ploughman shall overtake the reaper ; and 
the treader of grapes, him that soweth seed ; and the 
mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall 
melt." This will be the times of the restitution of all 
things, when God shall make all things new, not in a mo- 
ment, but by a process of renewing, which shall be put 
into operation at his coming and receive its great impetus 
from causes then instituted ; as this present system did 



NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 69 

from the deluge. The heavens and earth that are now- 
received their type or character from the flood, and the 
new heavens, and new earth shall receive their type or 
character from the-second coming of Christ, and as these 
that now are will be consummated at the coming of Christ, 
so that which we look for according to his promise shall be 
consummated in the reconciliation of all things unto 
God. For when the Lord laid the foundations of the 
earth and formed the heavens above he pronounced them 
very good : and all the changes which have taken place 
and are yet to take place have been designed for the good 
of man in recovering him out of the snare of the devil ; 
so when he shall have bruised the serpent's head and ef- 
fected the redemption of man from sin and death ; then 
will he also restore the physical world to its destined con- 
dition of perfection, 

When like the rose exuberant in bloom, 
The desert shall he clad in loveliness : 
The barren rock a. fertile soil become : 
And every waste be robed with waving corn, 
The earth career in its Creator's smile, 
And everlasting glory crown the joy. 

The unchangeableness of the Lord insures the accom- 
plishment of this promised restoration. He changes 
" the heavens and the earth" as often as he sees fit for the 
attainment of his unchangeable purpose. But he "is the 
same and his years shall not fail:" yea, "he shall nQt fail 
nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: 
and the isles shall wait for his law." Isa. xlii. 4. 



DISCOURSE SEVENTH. 

POLITICAL CHANGES— ADAMIC CONSTITUTION— PA- 
TRIARCHAL— MONARCHAL— NOAH'S PROPHECY— 
SHEM'S KINGDOM— NIMROD'S REBELLION— KING- 
DOM OF CHRIST. 

"Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, 
saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 
And this word, yet once more signifieth the removing of those 
things that are shaken, as things that are made, that those things 
which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a 
kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we 
may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear. For our 
God is a consuming fire." — Heb. xii. 26-29. 

The phrase "heavens and earth" as already shown is 
used figuratively to represent the physical and political 
condition of the world ; and their "passing away" de- 
notes a change in the same. It is separately used to sig- 
nify sometimes the physical and sometimes the political 
condition. Its application to the former we have consid- 
ered in our last, and purpose now to investigate its appli- 
cation to the latter ; especially in relation to remarkable 
changes which have been or will be made in the govern- 
ment of the world. Our text evidently applies to politi- 
cal changes. The Jirst shaking alludes to the giving of the 
Law on Mount Sinai, when the voice of God shook the 
whole policy of earthly government, by the promulgation 
of the Divine code, and the establishment of the Jewish 
Theocracy, the principles of which have tended to purify 
the political elements of society as thunder does the 
natural atmosphere. And the second shaking refers to 
the future dispensation of his glory, at the introduction of 
which he will not only shake the nations, but completely 
overthrow the political arrangements of this world, and 
subject the earth to his own righteous government, which 
(70) 



POLITICAL CHANGES. 71 

glorious polity is spoken of in vv. 22-24, as the Mount 
Zion — the heavenly Jerusalem — the innumerable com- 
pany of angels — the general assembly and church of the 
first born — and Gotl the judge of all — the spirits of just 
men made perfect, and Jesus the mediator of the new 
covenant — to which celestial hierarchy we shall come in 
the fulness of time. This promise insures the removal 
of the things shaken which denotes earthly empires and 
kingdoms ; for the introduction of a glorious and heavenly 
kingdom which cannot be shaken : i. e., the kingdom of 
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, which in v. 28, is 
called "a kingdom which cannot be moved." Hence we 
perceive the political character of the shaking referred to. 
Having shown in a former discourse that the kingdom 
forfeited by the transgressions of Adam, is according to 
the divine plan transferred to Christ, and will be given to 
him at his second advent, we have now to consider the 
changes which transpire in the government of the world 
from the deposition of the first Adam to the enthroning 
of the second Adam. For although as far as the affairs 
of providence are concerned they are, as before noticed, 
committed to invisible angelic ministration, until the 
time appointed of the Father for the setting up of the 
kingdom of his Son ; yet there is also an ostensible go- 
vernment of the world given to men, which has passed 
through many hands, and assumed a variety of phases. 
" For the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and 
giveth it to whomsoever he will ;" and in the disposing of 
these things he overules all for the furtherance of redemption. 

— He knew 
All schemes of moral government, — the good 
And evil knew — condition — circumstance, 
And final end he knew: surveyed them all 
And infinite in goodness, chose the best, 
Wherein the wrath of man his power restrains, 
And issue all in universal praise. 



% 



72 PATRIARCHAL. 

During the antediluvian age, the form of government 
appears to have been patriarchal, or simply family go- 
vernment. A patriarch being one who governs by pa- 
ternal right. Whether this extended to more than one 
generation is not mentioned, though in many cases it 
probably did. According to it the father of a family was 
its king or chief, and was a despot in his sphere. Each 
might gratify his lusts and passions without any restraint 
except such as he voluntarily assumed, or met with from 
others whose power might deter him. And as the ten- 
dencies of that age were to sensualism, the result would 
be a general forgetfulness of God, and contempt of his 
laws, leading to the most frightful excesses in crime. Fre- 
quent collisions would take place . between these sove- 
reigns of earth. Might and not right would triumph ; the 
strong oppress the weak ; producing that state of things 
described in the word of God, which says " the earth 
was filled with violence." There appears then to have 
been good reason for a change in the policy of the world 
at the time of the deluge ; and hence we find that not 
only was the physical condition broken up, but the politi- 
cal was entirely revolutionized ; and the patriarchal form- 
was succeeded by the monarchal. The political heavens 
and earth were shaken and the fashion thereof was altered. 

The ark contained the remnant of the righteous seed* 
saved from the wreck of the world. This remnant be- 
came the germ of the present age. The same tendencies 
however exist in human nature, for now, as before the 
deluge "the imaginations of man's heart are evil from his 
youth." But the physical condition of the earth was so 
altered as to give the most effective check to sinful pro- 
pensities ; and in due time a new basis was laid for its 
political economy to the same end. How long after the 
deluge ere the new form of government was established is 
not certainly known, but was probably some time after 



MONARCHAL. 73 

the birth of Canaan the fourth son of Ham ; who, as 
some suppose, may have been with his father, at the time 
his impious conduct brought upon himself and his pos- 
terity the curse -of^servitude ; and furnished an occasion 
for the institution of the political economy of the age, 
wherein Shem, on account of his piety, was vested whh 
the supreme authority, and Japhet was made his minister. 
This order of things we believe to be involved in the 
words of Noah found in Gen. ix. 25-27, and called his 
prophecy. "Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants 
shall he be to his brethern. Blessed be the Lord God of 
Shem : and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall en- 
large Japhet : and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem : and 
Canaan shall be his servant." Our exposition of this 
passage may at first glance appear strange, but a close 
examination will we think demonstrate its verity. Many 
of the prophecies are of such a general and comprehensive 
character, that they embrace, in their incipient, progressive 
and perfected stages, several phases of fulfilment. This 
is one of the kind. Bishop Newton in his dissertations on 
prophecy says, ** Is not this a most extraordinary prophecy: 
a prophecy that was delivered near four thousand years 
ago, and yet has been fulfilling through the several periods 
of time to this day ! It is both wonderful and instructive. 
It is the history of the world in epitome." 

Noah, after the deluge, having turned husbandman, be- 
came acquainted with the vine, cultivated it and made 
wine. He drank of the wine being probably ignorant of 
its intoxicating properties. Under its effect he lay unco- 
vered in his tent, and Ham, the father of Canaan, seeing- 
him in this condition made sport of him and told his 
brethren without. But Shem and Japhet shocked at his 
impiety, and having the fear of God before their eyes, took 
a garment and laid it over their shoulders, and entering 
backwards thev covered the nakedness of their father, for 



74 

whom they had a proper regard. " In consequence of 
this different behavior of his three sons, (says Newton) 
Noah, as a patriarch was enlightened and empowered to 
foretell the different fortunes of their families : for this 
prophecy relates not so much to themselves as to their 
posterity. He was not prompted by wine or resentment, 
for neither the one nor the other could infuse the know- 
ledge of futurity or inspire him with the prescience of 
events, which happened hundreds, nay thousands of years 
afterwards. But God, willing to manifest his superinten- 
dence and government of the world, indued Noah with 
the spirit of prophecy, and enabled him, in some measure, 
to disclose the purposes of his providence towards the 
future race of mankind." Commentators generally co- 
incide in this view, that the prophecy relates to the future 
condition of the posterity of the three brothers. Some 
restrict its application to the Canaanites in their subjection 
to Israel ; while others extend it to the three races in ge- 
neral and all admit that it refers to their political condition 
in which one was to be in servitude to the others. But 
none seem to have apprehended its full import as signifi- 
cant of the Divine purpose in instituting a new political 
arrangement for the world after the deluge, and typical of 
the dominion of the great Descendent and Lord of Shem, 
who is the chief subject of the prediction, and to whom 
the government of the earth must ultimately be given. 
There are three particular phases in the fulfilment of this 
prophecy ; 1st. The kingdom of Shem ; 2d. The diffe- 
rent political relations and fortunes of their families ; since 
the decline of Shem's dynasty : 3d. The future glorious 
kingdom of Christ who is the Lord God of Shem. 

It is evident that superiority was immediately conferred 
on Shem, who was chosen of God on account of his 
great piety, to exercise the supreme power in the govern- 
ment. Newton says, " God prefers Shem to his elder 



75 

brother as Jacob was afterwards preferred to Esau, and 
David to his elder brothers, to show that the order of 
grace is not always the same as the order of nature." But 
Japhet was notlorgotten ; on him was bestowed subordi- 
nate power and honor in the new administration ; while 
Ham for his wickedness was subjected to their sway. 
And this was a political constitution worthy of God ; for 
in it goodness and virtue were required as essential to 
honor, and every man was rewarded according to his 
works. It was a righteous government, tending, to the 
advancement of piety and the suppression of vice. One 
in which the rulers were a terror to evil doers and a praise 
to them that did well. And since Shem was truly pious 
and his government just and good, he would be properly 
called Melchisedek, i. e., King of righteousness or 
righteous King : for Melchisedek is evidently an official 
title, belonging to some one of Noah's family who was 
divinely appointed as the sovereign or supreme ruler after 
the deluge. And no other answers to the character and 
office but Shem. 

But such a government was not likely to continue un- 
disturbed in this world, in which the contest still goes on 
between the serpent and the woman's seed, whose heel is 
often bruised by the wicked of the earth. So it hap- 
pened in about one hundred years after the deluge, when 
the human race began to multiply and wickedness again 
revealed its enmity against the Divine rule. Nimrod, of 
the race of Ham, conspired against the government of 
Shem. The name Nimrod is derived from Mar ad, which 
signifies " he rebelled" The Jerusalem Targum says, 
That he required men " to depart from the religion of 
Shem and cleave to the institutions of Nimrod." The 
Targum of Jonathan Ben Uzzicl says, that, " from the 
foundation of the world none was ever found like Nim- 
rod, powerful in hunting and in rebelling against the 



76 nimrod's rebellion. 

Lord." (See A. Clarke. Com. in Loco.) Hence we 
have good authority for the position that Nimrod was the 
first to rebel against the government of Shem ; and that he 
succeeded in his wicked designs the scriptures show. He 
had learned the use of weapons in the chase, and had 
probably a large band of hunters with him, and so be- 
came too formidable to the government of Shem, which 
cultivated only the arts of peace. It is not probable that 
Shem offered any but moral resistance to the measures of 
Nimrod, and finding that he had enlisted the people gene- 
rally in his rebellion, he determined on leaving Cha-ldea, 
and accompanied by a few faithful adherents, emigrated 
westward, under divine direction, and founded a small 
religious dynasty in Palestine, which he called Salem, i. e., 
peace ; inasmuch as here he expected to be unmolested by 
the rebels. Hence he was also called King of Salem, 
i. e., King of peace. This kingdom existed no longer than 
Shem lived, which was five hundred and two years after 
the deluge. It is not said what became of his people. 
They may have joined the retainers of Abraham, who at 
that time was regarded as a mighty prince in the land. 
It lasted long enough however to show the divine inten- 
tion, and was an eminent type of Christ's Kingdom. 

" It was a plan of government divine, 
Scorned by the Babel builders of this world, 
But typical of future times, when God's 
Melchisedek shall reign o'er all the earth, 
And everlasting empire shall be his." 

Meanwhile the scheme of Nimrod progressed, and a 
city and tower was commenced as the capital of this king- 
dom. It is probable that the tower was intended for 
idolatrous worship ; but while it was in process of build- 
ing, God suddenly confounded their language. Each 
seemed to mock his neighbor. The consternation which 



nimrod's rebellion. 77 

ensued became general, and they fled from the work and 
called it Babel, or confusion. This event shook the em- 
pire of Nimrod to its centre, and divided and scattered his 
adherents. HamTwith some of his descendants, emigrated 
westward. Canaan and his family settled in Palestine 
and called it after his own name. Misraim settled Egypt, 
and others penetrated still farther into Africa. Whether 
Nimrod forsook his kingdom or not is not mentioned ; 
but it soon fell into the hands of such of the children of 
Shem as had remained in Chaldea. And it is remarkable 
that although ill a few instances the race of Ham have 
obtained great power and made some conquests over the 
descendants of the other brothers, their ascendency was 
of short duration, and they have generally been an infe- 
rior race, and held in subjection to the posterity of Shem 
and Japhet. The Canaanites were subdued and com- 
pelled to serve the Israelites. 2 Chron. viii. 7-9. And 
the better parts of Africa were successively subdued by 
the Romans, Saracens, and Turks, and the inhabitants 
reduced to a grievous state of vassalage, and live in wretch- 
edness and barbarism. And how many millions of the 
poor negroes have been bought and sold like cattle and 
reduced to the most debasing and cruel servitude. This 
prophecy has then, notwithstanding the rebellion of 
Nimrod, been receiving a progressive fulfilment ever since. 
He gained nothing to his race by his rejection of Shem's 
government. But he lost much in the long run : for 
though under it their condition would have been one of 
servitude, it would have been comparatively a happy ser- 
vitude under a wise and just administration. But the am- 
bition of man leads him often to act on the principle of 
Milton's devil, 

" Better to reign in hell, than serve in heaven." 

7* 



78 

Here then we see that the kingdoms of this world had 
their origin in rebellion against God, in rejection of a 
righteous government established on just principles: for 
to Babel they all owe their birth. And though headed 
by Nimrod of the race of Ham, yet the rebellion was par- 
ticipated in by the posterity of the other brothers also. 
The seeds of this rebellion were carried with them where- 
ever they went, and were productive of like fruit. 

" Thence to different parts 
They went, and spread the Babel through the world. 
Hence states and kingdoms owe their origin ; 
Hence all the southern bands, and northern hordes: 
To every land they went, but every where 
Were Babel builders still." 

The kingdoms and governments of earth are founded 
on principles adverse to righteousness- and peace. They 
are the body of the old serpent, the devil, and are filled 
with his spirit. In them he rules as the God of this age ; 
the spirit that now worketh in the hearts of the disobedi- 
ent. The world would not have God's righteous govern- 
ment, and so they have ever since groaned under the 
despotism of the wicked one. They refused the institu- 
tions of peace, and the demon of war has drenched the 
earth with their blood. They would not submit to the 
sceptre of true authority ; and false authority has made 
them cringe at its feet and kiss its toes. The uprisings 
of the people against the tyrannies which oppress them 
and their efforts to establish republican governments, 
manifest their sense of the insupportableness of their bur- 
dens and their longings after a better condition, and be- 
speaks the dawning of a day of glorious liberty. It is 
not however to republican institutions that we look for 
this desirable consummation. The popular form of go- 
vernment is considered by many as a catholicon for all 
political evils : but though it may alleviate the pains for a 



KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 79 

while, and subdue the symptoms of disease for a time, it 
cannot restore health. The malady assumes a new form 
and rages in the end with increased violence. 

But the work offedemption still goes on. God has not 
abandoned his plan ; though Adam proved unworthy of 
the trust, and Shem was too weak to maintain it against 
the encroachments of the sons of Belial : it shall be es- 
tablished and maintained when the second Adam — the 
Lord God of Shem shall come to reign over all the earth. 
The government of Shem was but a type of his. The 
phrase " And he shall dwell in the tents of Shem," seems 
to refer to the Lord God of Shem and not to Japhet ; for, 
says Bishop Newton, " there is no other noun to govern 
the verbs in the period but God. There is no pronoun in 
the Hebrew, answering to the he which is inserted in our 
English translation, and the whole sentence would run 
thus, 4 God will enlarge Japhet, and will dwell in the 
tents of Shem.'' And the Chaldee of Onkelos also thus 
paraphases it, ' .find ivill make his glory to dwell in the 
tabernacles of Shem.'' " This was partly fulfilled when 
the Sheckinah or divine presence dwelt in the tabernacle 
between the cherubim — and also when the Lord God of 
Shem was made flesh and dwelt among us : but it waits 
its full accomplishment in the new heavens and new earth, 
when the " tabernacle of God shall be with men, and he 
will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and 
God, himself, shall be with them, and be their God." 
Rev. xxi. 1-3. The saints of God who are reckoned 
as the descendants of Shem shall then possess the king- 
dom ; for they shall be made kings and priests unto God, 
and he will dwell with them. A numerous population of 
righteous subjects will answer to the character and enjoy 
the estate of Japhet in subordinate glory and enlargement; 
while his enemies who are the moral antitypes of Ham, 



80 KINGDOM OF CHRIST. 

Canaan, and Nimrod will be subdued to his sway and 
made his footstool. 

In short we may say in the language of Cunninghame, 
**■ The political destinies of this earth may be briefly em- 
bodied in the following propositions : — 1st. All human 
Rule, Authority, and Power, which now exist, shall cease 
and be abolished. 2d. The Son of God is about to ap- 
pear with his saints, and into their hands, all Rule, all 
Authority, and all Power are to be transferred. The 
stamp of fatuity and disappointment is, in the present day, 
put upon the schemes of worldly politicians ; because they 
refuse to humble themselves and are trying to uphold that 
which is destined to perish, and is already under a pro- 
cess of judgment." Yes, my brethren, God has begun his 
great work in the earth ; and he will be a consuming fire 
to the political heavens. The firmament is already in a, 
glow — kingdoms are being dissolved like wax before the 
flame — the elements melt with fervent heat. The promise 
will soon be fulfilled, " yet once more, I shake not the 
earth only, but also heaven. And this word, yet once 
more, signifieth the removing of those things that are 
shaken, as of things that are made," for a temporary pur- 
pose, " that those things which cannot be shaken may 
remain." The last great change will soon come, and the 
stone cut out of the mountain without hands shall smite 
the great image and reduce it to powder, and the winds 
shall carry it away as the dust of the summer threshing 
floor. The kingdom of Christ shall fill all the earth. That 
kingdom is promised to the saints. Let us therefore have 
grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reve- 
rence and godly fear, that when the fire shall devour up 
God's enemies round about, we may be found worthy to 
escape the things which come upon the earth and stand 
before the Son of man. 



DISCOURSE EIGHTH. 

PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST.— ORDER OF MELCHISEDEK 
—DIVINE APPOINTMENT— NOT OF THE AARONIC 
ORDER — DURATION — DIGNITY — CHRIST A KING 
AND PRIEST. 

For those priests were made without an oath ; but this with an 
oath, by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not re- 
pent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedek. 

Heb. vii. 21. 

The work of redemption comprises the reconciliation 
of the world to God, and is effected by the mediation of 
Christ, who gave himself a ransom for all men. Atone- 
ment was made necessary by transgression ; for without 
the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. In 
reconciling man to God, the mediator must satisfy the law 
and make it honorable, by showing its fitness and vindi- 
cating its claims. Hence the case of man required a high 
priest who was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from 
sinners and made higher than the heavens. If man had 
not sinned, there had been no need of sacrifice or priest. 
The work of the priesthood is expiation and intercession, 
and involves the honor of God and the salvation of man. 
On a subject of such importance we cannot be indifferent. 
Here is the foundation of all our comfort and hope. 
Hence we desire to know all about the priesthood of 
Christ, that we may comprehend the ground of our con- 
fidence, and feel assured that he is able to save them to 
the uttermost that come to God by him. We wish to 
know what signification there is in those historical repre- 
sentations of priesthood which we meet with in scripture 
story. What mean the multitudinous victims whose 
blood has been shed in sacrifice by the ordinance of 
heaven ? Is it that the Father of mercies delights in the 

(81) 



82 ORDER OF MELCHISEDEK. 

destruction of his creatures and feasts on their blood ? Does 
he regale himself with the perfume of their torment ? Are 
their groans music to his ears? Ah, no! There is sig- 
nificancy in these things worthy of his wisdom who or- 
dains them. They are clad with an emblematical design 
of vast importance. In their typical import is revealed 
the apostle and High Priest of our profession Christ 
Jesus, who gave himself a sacrifice for the sin of the 
world, and thereby obtained eternal redemption for us. 

Of the priesthood of Christ, that of Melchisedek is an 
illustrious type. It bears the closest similitude to the 
Great Antitype, and is worthy of special consideration. 
There are no accidental types or prophecies in the scrip- 
tures. They are all designed. Divine arrangement marks 
them all. Much is to be learned from them ; and what- 
ever obscurity lingers about them serves but to invite closer 
scrutiny and awaken special attention. Melchisedek was 
a type of Christ in his official capacity, and is therefore 
called by his official name and not by his personal name ; 
and herein lies the solution of the difficulty arising from 
the terms used by Paul in his Epistle to the Hebrews, to 
set forth the typical similitude. 

A brief historical account is given of Melchisedek in 
Gen. xiv. 18-20. When Abraham was returning from 
the slaughter of the kings it is said, " And Melchisedek 
King of Salem, brought forth bread and wine ; and he was 
Priest of the Most High God. And he blessed him and 
said, Blessed be Abraham of the Most High God, pos- 
sessor of heaven and earth ; and blessed be the Most 
High God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thine 
hands: And he gave him tythes of all." The typical 
character of his priesthood is adduced in Ps. ex. 4, " The 
Lord hath sworn and will not repent, Thou art a priest 
for ever after the order of Melchisedek." And the sub- 
ject is fully discussed by the Apostle in the context. His 



ORDER OF MELCHISEDEK. 83 

argument is designed to show that the Messiah, even Jesus, 
is a divinely constituted priest, although not of the order 
of Aaron ; and he enlarges upon the excellency of his 
priesthood. It is-supposable that the Jew, in attacking or 
objecting to Christianity would chiefly assail its priesthood 
and sacrifice, and pointing to the divinely constituted priest- 
hood and sacrifice of Judaism, demand an equal if not supe- 
rior authority for what would seem an innovation, designed 
to supersede the order of Aaron. The propriety of the de- 
mand is admitted, the question fairly met ; and the supe- 
periority of our Lord's priesthood clearly established, not 
only as the substance of the Jewish symbols, which were 
but shadows of good things to come, but also as the anti- 
type of an earlier and more excellent priesthood, accord- 
ing to that which is written, " Thou art a priest for ever 
after the order of Melchisedek." 

In the antediluvian age the Patriarch was also the priest 
of his family ; and after the flood Noah exercised this of- 
fice, until the Patriarchal form of government gave place 
to the monarchial, in the constitution of which the king 
was invested with the sacerdotal functions. This would 
naturally result, even if there had been no special divine 
appointment ; for kingdoms as well as families are bound 
to acknowledge the Supreme Being, and worship him ; and 
the chief ruler would in the fitness of things be the proper 
person to offer sacrifice and perform other religious services 
for the people. Among the heathen anciently the chief 
magistrate was priest. It was so in Rome from the foun- 
dation of the city until the deposition of Tarquin the 
Proud, a period of 244 years. Now as I have already 
shown, Shem was divinely appointed the monarch of the 
world after the flood, to him therefore rightly belonged the 
sacerdotal office also. The constitution that made him king, 
made him priest. This appears from Paul's argument 
respecting Messiah's priesthood. Heb. v. 5, " So also 



84 DITINE APPOINTMENT. 

Christ glorified not himself to be made a high priest, but 
he that said to him, Thou art my Son, this day have I be- 
gotten thee," and this is adduced in Ps. ii. 7, as the de- 
cree by which he was made king : Hence the argument 
is, that by the same decree he was likewise constituted 
a priest. In like manner was Shem constituted both king 
and priest. In Shem, then, we have a king-priest, cor- 
responding in character, office, and appointment with 
Melchisedek, and without doubt the same person. For 
we cannot admit that any other person could be divinely 
appointed a king-priest, during the life of Shem, since it 
would vitiate his appointment. But if Melchisedek were 
any other than Shem, then there would have been two 
contemporary king-priests of the Most High God, which 
is inadmissible. Consequently Shem is the Melchisedek 
of the Bible. Melchisedek being an official title, and 
Shem the proper name. We now come to consider the 
points of similitude between Melchisedek and Christ. 

I. Divine Appointment. — This is a first principle. 
Paul admits that no one can take this honor on himself, 
or assume its functions, except he be divinely appointed. For 
what confidence could be placed in the ministrations of a 
self-made priest? What hope of acceptance with God 
through the mediation of an impostor or usurper ? Hence 
the importance of knowing that Christ is a priest by Di- 
vine right, "called of God as was Aaron." Now we see 
that Jesus belonged to another tribe of which no man gave 
attendance at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord 
sprang out of Judah, of which tribe Moses spake nothing 
concerning priesthood. Our Lord then could not be a 
priest by the Levitical law, and the question arises, How 
is he then a priest? The apostle answers this by show- 
ing from Ps. ex. 4, that Christ " is called of God to be a 
high priest after the order of Melchisedek." The Jew 
could not deny the authority quoted, nor dispute its appli- 



NOT OF THE AARONIC ORDER. 85 

cation to the Messiah. And as Melchizedec was a di- 
vinely constituted priest, so also was Jesus. The term 
Christ which signifies the anointed, relates not only to 
his consecration as king, but also as priest. He is there- 
fore anointed of the Father a high priest over the house 
of God — a mediator between God and man, consecrated 
for evermore. 

II. Distinction from the Order of Aaron. — Mel- 
chisedek had nothing to do with the Levitical priesthood. 
The law relating to it would have excluded him, had he 
lived in that dispensation ; for it required that such as 
were made priests should prove their descent from Aaron 
by the genealogical tables or records ; as we learn from 
Neh. vii. 64, " These (children of Hebaiah) sought 
their register among them that were recorded by gene- 
alogy, but it was not found, therefore were they as pol- 
luted, put from the priesthood." These registers were 
probably kept in a manner similar to those found in some 
family Bibles, having several columns, in which were 
severally recorded the names of the individual, and of 
his father and mother, together with the time of his birth 
and death. If Melcshiedek were of the order of Aaron 
these records would show it. His name and the names 
of his parents, together with a record of his birth and 
death would be found there. But on an examination of 
the register they are not found. Hence, genealogically, so 
far as the Levitical register is concerned, he is said to 
be " without father, without mother, without descent 
(aytveahoyqtos, without genealogy) having neither beginning 
of days nor end of life." It is not by this mode of 
speech intended to assert that he was a self-existent and 
eternal being, or any other than a man, or that he had not 
parents, or that he was not born, or that he did not die. 
The terms relate to the items of the register and amount 
to no more than an affirmation that neither his name, nor 
8 



86 DURATION. 

that of father or mother, nor the time of his birth or death, 
are to be found in the register. His descent is not reck- 
oned from the sons of Levi ; consequently he could not 
be a priest by that law. His priesthood was distinct from 
that of Aaron. And so also is the priesthood of Christ, 
who is made a priest after the order of Melchisedek and 
not after the order of Aaron. Our Lord was therefore a 
priest, though not of the tribe of Levi or the family of 
Aaron. His priesthood being of a different order. This 
is what Paul proves, and thus meets and overthrows the 
objection to Christ's priesthood founded upon the Leviti- 
cal law. It is true that the Levitical priesthood was typi- 
cal of our Lord's priesthood to the extent of its signification, 
but did not furnish a perfect similitude as will appear from 
a consideration of the remaining particulars of correspond- 
ence between the priesthood of Melchisedek and that of 
Christ. 

III. Duration. Of Melchisedek it is said, that being 
made like unto the Son of God," he " abideth a priest 
continually ;" and again "it is witnessed that he liveth" 
And Messiah is made a priest for ever after the order of 
Melchisedek. The meaning and application of these 
terms will make the sense of the passage apparent to all. 
For ever does not in itself signify unending duration, but 
duration parallel with an age or term of years. It is fre- 
quently applied by the sacred writers to periods of unequal 
length, but always imports the completion of the period 
referred to. As in Deut. xv. 17, it is said that the servant 
who had his ears bored should serve his master for ever, 
i. e. until the year of Jubilee, when he and his wife 
and children should go out free. And in Exod. xii. 14, 
when the passover is to be observed as an ordinance for 
ever, i. e. during the Jewish dispensation. It is also 
applied to the Levitical priesthood in Exod. xl. 15, as 
continuing throughout their generations as an everlasting 



DURATION. 87 

priesthood. In its application to the priesthood of Mel- 
chisedek and Christ it has the same signification. It means 
the entire dispensation. And although the dispensation 
of Melchisedek's priesthood was much shorter in dura- 
tion than that of the Levitical, yet there is an important 
distinction to be observed between them and in which 
consists the typical similitude now under consideration. 
It is this, Melchisedek was the priest of his entire dispen- 
sation. There was no succession of persons in his priest- 
hood. It began and ended with himself. Hence it is 
said, " he abideth a priest continually," i. e. during the 
whole period. And it is witnessed that he lived in the 
days of Abraham, who paid tythes to him above 400 
years after his appointment to the office. But it was not 
so with the order of Aaron ; for, " they truly were many 
priests ; because they were not suffered to continue by 
reason of death." There was a succession of persons in 
the office. None continued during the whole dispensation 
Hence they are called "men that die" and are consti- 
tuted or made priests " after the law of a carnal com- 
mandment," which contemplated the death of one and the 
succession of another. Now Christ was made a priest 
for ever after the order of Melchisedek. He has no 
successor in his priesthood. He is the alpha and omega 
of his dispensation. His priesthood began as soon as 
sacrifice and mediation were made necessary by the sin 
of man, and continues until he shall have reconciled all 
things unto God by the blood of his cross. Thus Christ 
is made a priest " after the power of an endless life" 
which signifies in its application to Melchisedek, a life per- 
petuated through the entire dispensation, and in relation to 
Jesus unending duration, for he " because he endureth 
ever hath an unchangeable priesthood" and is able to 
save them to the uttermost who come to God by him, 
seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." For 



88 DIGNITY. 

the law of the Levitical priesthood " made men priests 
who had infirmity and must die ; but the words of the 
oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son who is 
consecrated for evermore." 

IV. Dignity. Melchisedek was a king-priest. Being 
first by interpretation king of Righteousness, and after- 
wards king of Salem (Melchi-Salem) which is king of 
peace. None of the Aaronic order were kings. In the 
Jewish theocracy the regal and sacerdotal offices were 
separated. This was done probably because of the cor- 
rupting influences of worldly power and grandeur on the 
mind of man, and to insure more holiness in those whose 
office it was to draw nigh to God and minister in holy 
things. And in the present state of the world it is un- 
doubtedly best that they should be separate, but under a 
perfectly righteous administration they would mutually 
contribute to render each other effective by union in the 
same person. The king-priest possesses sanctity and 
power. Herein consisted the superiority of Melehise- 
dek's preisthood over that of Aaron. His was a royal 
priesthood and the Apostle calls upon us to consider his 
greatness to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave 
tythes in acknowledgment of his superiority. " For he 
received tythes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the 
promises ; and beyond all contradiction the less is blessed 
of the better.*' Such was Melchisedek the king and 
priest of the only community ever established in this 
world as a type of the peaceful kingdom of the Son of 
God. And however sad the venerable Melchisedek felfc 
as he found it fading away from a neglectful world, he 
must have experienced, when he blessed Abraham, as the 
progenitor of the great antitype who shall come and reign 
in righteousness for ever, some of the rapture afterwards 
felt by good old Simeon when he took the child Jesus in his 
arms and said, " Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart 



DIGNITY. 89 

in peace for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." After 
the same similitude is Jesus Christ a king-priest." And 
he is first also king of Righteousness as is written in Jer. 
xxiii. 5, 6, " Behold the days come saith the Lord, that 
I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a king 
shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and 
justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved 
and Israel shall dwell safely ; and this is the name whereby 
he shall be called, The Lord our righteousness. Christ 
is also our Melchi-salem or king of peace. For his gov- 
vernment shall be a peaceful government. Ps. lxxi. 7, 
"In his days shall the righteous nourish, and abundance 
of peace, so long as the moon endureth." But there 
may be reference here to the capital of his kingdom. 
Melchisedek called it Salem. Abraham afterwards called 
it Jehovah-Jireh : whence it has received the appellation 
Jerusalem, a compound of Jireh and Salem, signifying 
the vision of peace or peace shall be seen there. And 
it is destined to be the metropolis of the redeemed earth, 
when Jerusalem shall be the throne of the Lord. Isa. 
xxiv. 23, " Then the moon shall be confounded and the 
sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in 
Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients 
gloriously." 

But it may be asked, will not mediation cease and 
Christ divest himself of the sacerdotal office when he 
comes to reign ? We answer, no. For then his sacrifice 
and mediation will acquire new force from his glorious 
presence and power ; and the ministrations of his glorified 
saints, who shall be made kings and priests with him in 
his kingdom. We learn from Jer. xxiii. 5, that Christ is 
the righteous branch of David. And in Zech. vi. 12, 13, 
it is said, " Behold the man whose name is the Branch ; 
and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build 
the temple of the Lord ; Even he shall build the temple of 
8* 



90 CHRIST A KING-PRIEST. 

the Lord, and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and 
rule upon his throne ; and he shall be a priest upon his 
throne ; and the counsel of peace shall be between them 
both." This prediction is of like import with 2 Sam. vii. 
13, where it is said of David's promised seed, " He shall 
build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne 
of his kingdom for ever," which unquestionably refers to 
Christ. And since the saints are to be made kings and 
priests in that dispensation, Christ must be so, for they 
are to be made like him. It is evident, then, that the 
kingdom of our Lord will be a mediatorial dispensation, 
in which he and his saints will reign over the nations, to 
the end that they all may be subjected to his government 
and reconciled to God by his blood. Therefore he will 
sustain his priestly office in union with his regal power 
and state after the similitude of Melchisedek, and employ 
his saints as kings to execute his laws, and as priests in 
ministering his grace to the subjects of his government. 

But let us turn to Ps. ex. Here we find in this sub- 
lime prophecy the royalty and priesthood of the Messiah 
set forth in blended majesty and mercy, subduing and re- 
conciling all things unto God. The scene begins with 
the exaltation of Christ, after he had once suffered for sin. 
" The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand 
till I make thine enemies thy footstool." Then anticipat- 
ing the result of this present dispensation, he speaks of 
his future reign, when " the Lord shall send the rod of his 
strength out of Zion ; and he shall rule in the midst of his 
enemies," who being made willing in the day of his 
power, shall become the obedient subjects of his kingdom : 
for instead of" the beauty of holiness" many manuscripts 
and printed copies, as Clarke tells us, have " the moun- 
tain of holiness," which is the symbol of Christ's king- 
dom. This kingdom shall, in its renewing and hallowing 
influences upon the world, be as " the dew from the womb 



CHRIST A KING-PRIEST. 91 

of the morning." Then follows the oath by which Mes- 
siah's priesthood is confirmed in conjunction with his re- 
gal state. " The Lord hath sworn and will not repent," 
a form of expression which imports its certainty and per- 
petuity. For when God uses an oath it is to show the 
immutability of his counsel. It cannot be changed or 
frustrated. " Thou art a priest for ever after the order of 
Melchisedek." He "is here inducted into the highest 
honor regal and sacerdotal, with the promise of a most 
flourishing kingdom, founded in Zion, but extending every 
where, till every enemy should be subdued." [Clarke.) 
" Yea, all kings shall fall down before him ; all nations 
shall serve him," &c. Ps. lxxii. 11-15. 

Melchisedek was an eminent type of Christ. His 
regal and sacerdotal character has never received its full 
exemplification, and never will upon earth, till " the priest 
of the Most High God," even Jesus Christ shall come 
and take his royal throne and be a priest upon his throne. 
" When Salem shall be his tabernacle, and his dwelling- 
place in Zion." And this shall come to pass. "A priest 
upon his throne is the very character which Anti-Christ 
has assumed and endeavors to maintain : but it belongs 
exclusively to Christ who is the great antitype of Mel- 
chisedek, and shall reign over all the earth. He is now 
within the vail ; but he shall come forth and in the vest- 
ments of righteousness and salvation assume his throne in 
Jerusalem. Then he will complete the fulfilment of the 
typical similitude and as king of righteousness and king 
of Salem exercise his sovereign power in subduing all the 
earth to his government ; and as priest of the most high 
God reconcile all things to God by the blood of his cross. 
In this glorious work the saints of all antecedent ages 
shall be associated with him ; being made kings and 
priests in his kingdom for ever. 



DISCOUESE NINTH. 

THE COVENANT OF PROMISE -ITS NATURE— ITS 
HEIRS— ITS FULFILMENT. 

For the promise that he should be the heir of the world, was not 
to Abraham and to his seed through the law, but through the right- 
eousness of faith. For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith 
is made void and the promise made of none effect. Because the Law 
worketh wrath : for where no law is, there is no transgression 
Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace ; to the end the 
promise might be sure to all the seed ; not to that only which is of 
the law ; but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is 
the father of us all (as it is written, I have made thee a father of many 
nations) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth 
the dead and calleth those things which be not as though they 
were. — -Rom. iv. 13-17. 

J In the discourse on the general scheme of prophecy, I 
briefly referred to the calling of Abraham, as an occasion 
on which God had disclosed his purposes of grace towards 
man, more fully than at any former period ; and as fur- 
nishing one feature of the grand outline of the Divine 
plan. My remarks on the subject in that connection were 
necessarily limited to a bare statement of its leading points. 
It is however worthy of particular consideration, as it con- 
tains a clue to the proper understanding of many of those 
exceeding great and precious promises of scripture ; and 
is so closely interwoven with the whole system of redemp- 
tion that without acquaintance with it, no one can clearly 
comprehend " what is the hope of his calling, and what 
the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. To 
the covenant of God made with Abraham and afterwards 
confirmed with Isaac and Jacob, Paul refers in Eph. ii. 12, 
as the " Covenants of promise," in which alone we can 

(92) 



ITS NATURE. 93 

have hope of salvation and peace with God. Hence in 
Luke i. 67-73, Zacharias, by the spirit spake of Christ 
as coming " to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, 
and to remember "his holy covenant, the oath which he 
sware to our father Abraham." And Paul sets this mat- 
ter in clear light by informing us that the Abrahamic cove- 
nant, so far from being abrogated by the Mosaiac law, still 
remains in full force and virtue, and is that under which 
we now are. For he says in Gal. iii. 17, " that the co- 
venant which was confirmed before of God in Christ, the 
law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, can- 
not disannul, that it should make the promise of none ef- 
fect." The document by which salvation is secured to 
man was signed and sealed in the days of the father of 
the faithful, but lay in a measure inefficient until after 
the death of Christ. "For a testament is of force after 
men are dead, otherwise it is of no strength at all while 
the testator liveth." Heb. ix. 17. It is also called a new 
covenant, for though it was given so long before, yet be- 
cause designed to be perpetual it was not ratified until 
Christ came and confirmed it by his blood : while the 
Mosaic covenant which was given four hundred and 
thirty years after, being intended oidy for a temporary 
purpose, was ratified at once and soon waxed old and 
vanished away. For that which is ephemeral soon de- 
cays and becomes old, but that which is perpetual con- 
tinues for ever new. In the text we have a concise state- 
ment of this covenant. It is here termed the promise ; 
and a glorious promise it is, — yea, the sum of all the 
promises. It includes them all. Let us consider 

I. Its Nature. " For the promise that he should be 
the heir of the world." The word xo^oj here rendered 
world, signifies order, ornament, decoration. It is so 
employed in 1 Peter iii. 3, where speaking of the manner 
in which pious females should commend themselves he 



94 ITS NATURE. 

says, " Whose adorning (xo^oj) let it not be that out- 
ward adorning of plaiting the hair, and wearing of gold, 
or of putting on of apparel." Pythagoras was the first 
who appropriated the term to the system of the universe, 
because of the admirable regularity and beauty discovera- 
ble therein. It is used in 2 Pet. iii. 6, to represent the 
external condition of the earth, its furniture, productions, 
and inhabitants, all of which were destroyed with the 
flood ; H whereby the world that then was being over- 
flowed with water, perished." All that constitutes the 
adornment of the earth physically or artificially as well 
as its moral and political arrangements is included in the 
term world. It is therefore very comprehensive arid 
embraces, according to the covenant, 

1. The land of Canaan as a special grant. God 
called Abraham to leave his native country and go into a 
land which he should after receive for an inheritance. He 
obeyed. And when he arrived in Canaan, the Lord 
appeared to him and said, " Unto thy seed will I give this 
land," Gen. xxi. 7, and again, "Lift up thine eyes and 
look from the place where thou art, northward and south- 
ward, and eastward and westward : for all the land which 
thou seest, to thee will I give it and to thy seed for ever ; 
and I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, so that 
if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy 
seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in 
the length of it and in the breadth of it : for I will give 
it to thee." Gen. xiii. 14-17. And Paul says, " By faith 
he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange 
country, dwelling in tabernacles, with Isaac and Jacob, 
the heirs with him of the same promise." Heb. xi. 9. 
The land of Canaan then is a special grant included in 
the covenant. 

2. The whole earth. This is implied in what God said 
in Gen. xvii. 18, " That Abraham shall surely become a 



ITS HEIRS. 95 

great and mighty nation, and all the nations of die earth 
shall be blessed in him." The territory of all nations is 
the whole earth. But when the earth shall be inherited 
by Abraham and his-seed, it will be in an improved con- 
dition. Redeemed from the curse under which it now 
groans, there shall be no more sterility and blight, un- 
wholesome fruit and pestilential air. It shall be restored 
to its original salubrity and fruitfulness. The wilderness 
shall blossom as the rose, and deserts yield abundant 
crops. The earth shall be an Eden, and Canaan will be 
a garden in the midst of it. The tree of life shall be 
there with its monthly fruit and its healing leaves. It 
will be emphatically a new earth. But not only its phy- 
sical condition will be changed, it will be under other and 
better moral and political institutions. Iniquity will no 
longer usurp the throne of justice. The administration 
will be perfectly just and righteous. Oppression shall no 
longer tread down the poor. Nor shall war stain the 
earth with the blood of its victims. The earth shall be 
filled with the knowledge of the Lord, and peace, joy, and 
contentment reign in every breast. For then earth's 
rightful heirs shall take the kingdom and possess it for 
ever. The term world, (xoafiof, adornment,) may then be 
truly applied to the inheritance of the saints, for, in that 
day shall the Branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, 
and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for 
them that are escaped of Israel. And the Lord shall 
create upon every dwelling-place of Mount Zion, and 
upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the 
shining of a flaming fire by night : for upon all the glory 
shall be a defence." Isa. iv. 2-5. 

II. Its Heirs. The promise is " to Abraham and to 
his seed.^ To our first parents after the fall, God re- 
vealed his purpose of redemption by the seed of the wo- 
man who should bruise the serpent's head : a purpose 



yb ITS HEIRS. 

embracing all mankind and insuring, in positive and un- 
conditional terms, their final recovery from the penalty of 
the official transgression of the first Adam in his repre- 
sentative character. " For as in Adam all die, even so in 
Christ shall all be made alive." 1 Cor. xv. 22. But in the 
promise to Abraham and to his seed we have a special 
grant, comprised in the general promise, importing a pe- 
culiar and exalted condition of greatness and glory to him 
and to his seed, who are hence termed the elect of God. 
But this does not interfere with or prevent the accomplish- 
ment of the general plan, but is intended to facilitate and 
complete it, through their instrumentality, as elect and 
qualified agencies. It should therefore be kept in mind 
that the covenant with Abraham and his seed does not 
vitiate, but rather confirms the covenant with Adam and 
all his posterity : for God " is the Savior of all men, 
especially of them that believe,'''' 1 Tim. iv. 10. 

It is also to be observed that the covenant with Abraham 
having been made prior to the giving of the law, and be- 
ing confirmed by the oath of God, could not be set aside 
by the law : therefore the inheritance is not through the 
righteousness of the law : but through that which is by 
faith in the promise. For if they were made heirs by the 
law, or on condition of its righteousness, then faith is use- 
less and may be compared to a city sacked by its foes ; 
and the promise, like a dilapidated building falls in ruins. 
For the law, convincing those under it of sin, revealed no- 
thing but wrath, thus driving them from a vain dependence 
upon their own righteousness, to rely only on that which 
is by faith in the promise which went before. Hence it 
is of faith that it might be by grace and made sure to all 
the seed of promise : not to that which is of the law only, 
or of natural descent, but to that also which is of the faith 
of Abraham who is the father of us all. Here we find 
that, besides Christ who is pre-eminently Abraham's 



ITS HEIRS. 97 

seed, there are two classes or kinds of seed embraced 
in the promise, one by natural descent, and the other by 
faith. 

1. The natural seed of promise. As Isaac in opposi- 
tion to Ishmael, for Ishmael was born after the flesh, or 
according to a carnal policy suggested by Sarah in her un- 
belief but Isaac was by promise : and in Isaac shall thy 
seed be called. Isaac was a natural descendant as well as 
Ishmael, but he was the promised seed, and with him and 
his posterity God confirmed the covenant made with 
Abraham. Gen. xvii. 18-21. So also we have Jacob in 
opposition to Esau, for Esau sold his birthright to Jacob, 
and God foreseeing this rejected him and elected Jacob, 
saying to Rebecca before the children were bom, " The 
elder shall serve the younger :" from which we learn that 
Jacob as the promised seed according to the election of 
grace, though younger than Esau, was yet the heir of the 
blessing, and Esau the elder is made subject to the 
younger. And the descendants of Jacob, including the 
twelve tribes, are the natural seed of promise and heirs 
according to the covenant : for the gifts and callings of 
God are without repentance or change. He cannot be 
deceived ; his foreknowledge is perfect and his purposes 
immutable. 

2. The promised seed of faith. " Know ye therefore," 
saith Paul in Gal. iii. 7-29, " that they which are of faith, 
the same are the children of Abraham. And if ye be 
Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs accord- 
ing to the promise." All believers in the promise of God 
whose faith like that of Abraham leads them to seek a bet- 
ter and a heavenly country are counted for a seed. The 
heirs, then, are, 

1. Christ, who is pre-eminently the seed of Abraham, 
and who by divine right as the Son of God is the " ap- 
pointed heir of all things." To whom in Ps. ii. 8, it is 
9 



98 ITS HEIRS. 

said " Ask of me and I will give thee the heathen for 
thine inheritance and the uttermost part of the earth for 
thy possession." And in Ps. Ixxxii. 8, "Arise O God, 
judge the earth; for thou shalt inherit all nations." And 
Canaan is called Immanuel's land as it has been once the 
theatre of his humiliation and sufferings for the redemp- 
tion of the world, and shall be the theatre of his exaltation 
and glory as King of kings and Lord of lords, for the 
governing of the world. And it is through Christ that 
the inheritance is made sure to Abraham and all his seed. 

2. Abraham. ."/ will give it to thee." Gen. xiii. 7. 
Thus God promised to give it to Abraham, himself, per- 
sonally : but this promise was not fulfilled to him in the 
days of his pilgrimage, as Stephen says in Acts vii. 5, 
" And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much 
as to set his foot on ; yet he promised that he would give 
it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when 
as yet he had no child." But it shall be fulfilled to him, 
and to Isaac and Jacob, to whom God also gave it by per- 
sonal grant, as he said to Moses in Ex. vi. 3, 4, " And I 
appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac and unto Jacob, and I 
have also established my covenant with them, to give them 
the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein 
they were strangers." And in Ps. cv. 8-11, it is said 
" He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word 
which he commanded to a thousand generations, which 
covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath with Isaac ; 
and confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel 
for an everlasting covenant ; saying, Unto thee will I give 
the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance.''' What 
can be more positive than these personal grants? What 
more sure of accomplishment than a covenant which God 
declares he will never forget ? a promise which awaits its 
fulfilment even to a thousand generations 1 

3. The seed of faith or believers in Christ. That they 



ITS HEIRS. 99 

are heirs of the same promise is frequently stated in the 
divine word ; " for they that be of faith are blessed with 
faithful Abraham/^ Therefore it is written, Ps. xxxvii. 
9-11, " For evil doers shall be cut off; but they that wait 
upon the Lord shall inherit the earth ; For yet a little 
while and the wicked shall not be ; yea, thou shalt dili- 
gently consider his place and it shall not be ; but the meek 
shall inherit the earth ; and shall delight themselves in 
the abundance of peace." And Jesus says in Matt. v. 5, 
Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. And 
Paul says, Gal. iii. 29, " If ye be Christ's, then are ye 
Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise." 
What promise ? surely the promise to Abraham and to his 
seed that they should inherit the world. 

4. The natural seed by promise. To these there has 
been a partial fulfilment of the promise in the former 
possession of the land : but this was only a pledge of 
their final inheritance in the latter days. Hence in Isa. 
lxiii. 17, 18, reference is made to it in these terms, " Re- 
turn (O Lord) for thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine 
inheritance. The people of thy holiness have possessed 
it but a little while. Our adversaries have trodden down 
thy sanctuary." And in Jer. xii. 14, 15, it is written, 
44 Thus saith the Lord against all my evil neighbors, that 
touch the inheritance which I have caused my people 
Israel to inherit. Behold I will pluck them out of their 
land, and pluck out of the house of Judah from among 
them. And it shall come to pass, after that I have 
plucked them out, I will return and have compassion on 
them, and will bring them again every man to his heritage, 
and every man to his land." So also, Isa. lxv. 9, " And 
I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah 
an inheritor of my mountains ; and mine elect shall in- 
herit it, and my servants shall dwell there." And in 
Ezek. xlvii. 14, where the horders of the land are defined 



100 ITS FULFILMENT. 

according to the twelve tribes God says, " And ye shall 
inherit it, orte as well as another ; concerning the which 
I lifted up my hand to give it to your fathers ; and this 
land shall fall to you for an inheritance." 

III. Its Fulfilment. The time is yet future. The 
promise yet remains to be fulfilled. The day of the Lord 
is not yet ; but it will come and the promised grace shall 
be manifested when " the Lord shall dwell in the midst 
of the children of Israel for ever," Ezek. iv. 3-7. " Sing 
and rejoice, O daughter of Zion : for lo I come, and I will 
dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord. And many 
nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall 
be my people ; and I will dwell in the midst of thee. 
And the Lord shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy 
land, and shall choose Jerusalem again." Zech. ii. 10, 12. 
Then shall Christ inherit all nations ; and all the ends of 
the earth shall see the salvation of our God. 

Of the ancient believers it is said in Heb. xi. 13, 
" These all died in faith not having received the promises, 
but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, 
and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers 
and pilgrims on the earth." Hence they looked for a 
future possession of the earth, and their faith anticipated 
as necessary thereto, the resurrection from the dead : for 
Abraham believed in God who quickeneth the dead, and 
calleth the things that be not as though they were. 
Abraham died in the faith that God would give him 
that land for an inheritance, he must therefore have 
believed that God would raise him from the dead to 
inherit it. And every one who believes in the pro- 
mise as confirmed in Christ must believe in the resur- 
rection also ; for it will be necessary to the fulfilment of 
the promise, to ail who die in faith, that they be raised 
up again. Hence Paul says in Acts xxvi. 6-8, " And 
now I stand and am judged /or the hope of the promise 



ITS FULFILMENT. 101 

made of God unto our fathers. Unto which promise our 
twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night hope to 
come. Why should it be thought a thing incredible with 
you that God should' raise the dead?" Paul believed that 
God would raise the dead that he might fulfil his promise 
to his faitkful people. And when the Sadducees who 
denied the resurrection, and by consequence rejected the 
hope Paul speaks of, proposed to Christ the case of the 
woman who had seven husbands, demanding whose wife 
shall she be in the resurrection ? Our Lord exposed their 
error by affirming that they which are counted worthy to 
obtain that world and the resurrection out of the dead 
neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the 
angels in heaven, and shows that the inheritance of that 
world is to be attained by the children of the resurrec- 
tion, who being redeemed to God by the blood of the 
lamb, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and 
nation, and being made unto God kings and priests shall 
reign on the earth. 

To this event we refer the prophecy of Ezek. xxxvii. 
1-14, wherein the Lord assures his people of their resur- 
rection from their graves, that they may receive the fulfil- 
ment of the covenant in their inheriting the land of pro- 
mise. The people generally expected the Messiah to 
come and that, the promise to Abraham would be fulfilled 
under his administration, and that those who should then 
live would enjoy great blessedness and length of days ; 
but they appear to have been somewhat skeptical in rela- 
tion to the resurrection of the dead, and their participation 
in the benefits of Messiah's reign. Hence they are repre- 
sented as saying, v. 11, " Our bones are dried, and our 
hope is lost ; we are cut off for our parents." But God 
to cure this skepticism gave to Ezekiel a vision wherein 
the house of Israel is symbolically represented by a mul- 
titude of dry bones in a valley, the symbol of their 
9* 



102 ITS FULFILMENT. 

graves. And shows by the resurrection of these dry 
bones to life, that he will bring up his people out of their 
graves to inherit the land. " Then ye shall know that I 
the Lord have spoken it and performed it, saith the Lord." 

The restoration of the natural seed to the land is pre- 
dicted by the prophets generally. One selection is suffi- 
cient. In Ezek. xxxvii. 21-28, God says, "Behold I 
will take the children of Israel from among the heathen 
whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, 
and bring them to their own land. And they shall dwell 
in the land that I have given to Jacob my servant, wherein 
your fathers have dwelt, and they shall dwell therein, even 
they and their children and their children's children for 
ever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with 
them, it shall be an everlasting covenant with them ; and 
I will place them and multiply them, and will set my 
sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My taber- 
nacle also shall be with them, yea, I will be their God, and 
they shall be my people : and the heathen (gentiles) shall 
know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel when my sanc- 
tuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore." That 
this prediction yet remains to be fulfilled is as certain as 
that it relates to the natural seed of Abraham, than which 
nothing is plainer. It needs no comment. 

The promise then to Abraham and his seed, opens be- 
fore us the Millennial dispensation, in which the Lord Jesus 
shall reign in Jerusalem and before his ancients gloriously : 
when Abraham and Isaac and Jacob with all the prophets 
and all true believers of every age shall sit down to- 
gether in the kingdom of God, being glorified together 
with Christ and made partakers of the honor of his king- 
dom ; and as kings and priests shall dispense to the na- 
tions of earth the righteous laws and merciful provisions 
of a better dispensation. When the Jews or natural 
Israel shall be restored to their own land, and under Christ 



ITS FULFILMENT. 103 

and his saints be made a subordinate means of blessedness 
to all people. Under such a government the nations will 
live in peace and beating their swords into ploughshares and 
their spears into pruning hooks, learn war no more. Then 
shall the triumphant song of the sweet singer of Israel be 
realized in all its prophetical import. 

O clap your hands, all ye people 

Shout unto God with a voice of triumph. 

For the Lord most high is terrible ; 

He is a great King over all the earth. 

He shall subdue the people under us, 

And the nations under our feet. 

He shall choose our inheritance for us, 

The excellency of Jacob whom he loved. (Selah.) 

God is gone up with a shout, 

The Lord with the sound of a trumpet. 

Sing praises to God, sing praises ; 

Sing praises unto our king, sing praises. 

For God is the King of all the earth ; 

Sing ye praises with understanding. 

God reigneth over the heathen : 

God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness. 

The princes of the people are gathered together, 

Even the people of the God of Abraham: 

For the shields of the earth belong unto God : 

He is greatly exalted. Ps. xlvii. 

What a glorious era ! Do you wish to share in that 
triumph? Do you desire to sing that song? See to it 
that you belong to Christ, that you believe in and obey 
him, that you may be one of Abraham's seed and an heir 
of the promised blessing. See to it that you be not an 
Ishmael, a mere professor of religion. A man of the 
world under the name of a Christian — a son of the bond 
woman and not of the free. For unless you are one of 
those who are born not of the flesh nor of the will of man 
but begotten by the spirit of promise, you cannot be an 



104 APPLICATION. 

.heir, of Abraham. And beware also that you be not like 
Esau, who profanely sold his birthright for a mess of pot- 
tage. You may sell yours for some earthly and sen- 
sual object. There is a fearful possibility of making 
earthly goods your chief pursuit, and bartering away 
your heavenly inheritance for filthy lucre. This world 
spreads her allurements around you and tempts you to 
give up your hope in Christ. And perhaps there never 
was a time of greater danger to the Christian than now 
when iniquity abounds and the love of many is grow- 
ing cold. Take heed lest your hearts be overcharged with 
surfeiting and drunkenness and the cares of this life and 
so that day come upon you as a thief: for when once the 
master of the house is risen up and ye begin to stand with- 
out and to knock, saying, Open unto us,, be from within 
shall answer and say, I know you not. Depart from me,. 
ye workers of iniquity. For Esau, when he would have- 
inherited the blessing, was rejected : for he found no place 
for repentance ; though he sought it carefully with tears* 
Alarming thought I that eareless soul by neglect of the 
means of grace and contempt of divine ordinances is mak- 
ing salvation impossible I that worldly spirit in laying up 
treasure upon this earth is selling a title to an incorruptible 
inheritance hereafter I Wherefore be ye followers of God„ 
as dear children ; and walk in love, as Christ also hath 
loved us and hath given himself for us. But fornication 
and all uncleanness or covetousness ; let it not be once 
named among you as beeorneth saints. Neither fihhiness 
nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: 
but rather giving of thanks. For this know, that no 
whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who 
is an idolator, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of 
Christ and of God. 



DISCOURSE TENTH 



THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST THE SON OF DAVID.— 
DAVIDIO COVENANT— THE SON OF DAVID— THE 
KINGDOM— ITS RESTORATION— EXTENT— CHARAC- 
TER. 



And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary ; for thou hast found 
favor with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and 
bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, 
and shall be called the Son of the Highest : and the Lord God shall 
give unto him the throne of his father David : And he shall reign 
over ihe house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be 
no end. — Luke i. 30-33. 

The government of Israel was a theocracy. It was 
founded by the Almighty. God was the lawgiver and 
king. All the laws, civil and religious, were of divine en- 
actment, — all the officers were of divine appointment. The 
polity originated in the wisdom of God, and was adapted 
to the condition, character, and destiny of the people whom 
he had chosen for his own inheritance. Moses was se- 
lected as the first leader and commander of the hosts 
of God, then Joshua ; and after their settlement in the 
land of Canaan, he gave them judges until Samuel the 
prophet. At the close of his administration they desired 
a king. This was a virtual rejection of God as appears 
from 1 Sam. viii. 7, " And the Lord said unto Samuel, 
Hearken unto the people in all that they say unto thee, 
for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, 
that / should not reign over them. Then God raised up 
Saul to be their king ; yet he did not cast them off because 
they had rejected him ; but adapting the laws to the new 
arrangement, he made their king subordinate to himself, 
their rightful sovereign. Saul was disobedient, and God 

105 



106 DAVIDIC COVENANT. 

rejected him, and chose David the son of Jesse in his 
place, who in relation to the affairs of the kingdom is 
called a man after God's own heart, because he would fulfil 
all his pleasure in the administration of the government. 
With David God made a covenant to establish the king- 
dom perpetually in his family, as he says, Ps. lxxxix. 3, 4, 
" I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn 
unto David, my servant, Thy seed will I establish for ever, 
and build up thy throne to all generations." The transac- 
tion here referred to may be found in 2 Sam. vii. and 1 
Chron. xvii. where we learn that when David was estab- 
lished in the kingdom over all Israel, he was deeply af- 
fected by the thought that he was dwelling in a house of 
cedars, while the ark of God was only sheltered by a 
tent. And he designed building a temple for the Lord. 
But Nathan, the prophet, was commanded to tell him that 
it was not the will of God that he should build a house 
for him ; that he had taken him from the sheep-cote to 
make him king over Israel, and had greatly prospered him, 
and made him a great name in the earth, yet this was but a 
beginning of what he would do, and adds, " Also I will 
ordain a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, 
and they shall dwell in their place, and shall be moved no 
more : neither shall the children of wickedness waste 
them any more, as at the beginning and since the time 
that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. 
Moreover I will subdue all thine enemies. Furthermore, 
I tell thee, that the Lord will build thee a house. And it 
shall come to pass, when thy days be expired, that thou 
must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy 
seed after thee which shall be of thy sons ; and I will es- 
tablish his kingdom. And he shall build me a house, and 
I will establish his throne for ever. I will be his Father 
and he shall be my Son : and I will not take my mercy 
away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee : 



THE SON OF DAVID. 107 

But I will settle him in my house and in my kingdom for 
ever : and his throne shall be established for evermore." 
The perpetuity of this covenant is set forth in Jer. xxxiii. 
20, 21, " Thus saUh-the Lord, If ye can break my cove- 
nant of the day, and my covenant of the night, that there 
should not be day and night in their season ; then may 
also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that 
he should not have a son to reign upon his throne." And 
again in Ps. lxxxix. 34-37, " My covenant will I not 
break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. 
Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto 
David. His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as 
the sun before me. It shall be established for ever as the 
moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven." This covenant, 
then, remains in full force, and God is pledged by his oath 
to place a son of David on the throne of his kingdom, and 
settle him in it for ever. 

But who is this son of David ? It certainly was not 
Solomon, nor any other who has heretofore occupied the 
throne of David, for they are all dead, the kingdom is 
overthrown, the crown is profaned, the tabernacle of Da- 
vid is in ruins, and the place of his throne is trodden 
by the gentile foot. It appears that David was surprised 
and overwhelmed with the contemplation of the wonderful 
person in whom the covenant should be fulfilled ; and 
therefore exclaimed, " And is this the manner of man ? O 
Lord God !" or as some render it, " And what manner of 
man is this, Lord God !" # But Dr. A. Clarke says that 
literally translated it is " And this is the Law of the 
Man or of the Adam ;" meaning the second Adam, the 
seed of the woman who should bruise the serpent's head. 
And he thus renders 1 Chron. xvii. 17, "And thou hast 
regarded me according to the order of the Adam that is 
future, or the Man that is from above," for he says 
the word here rendered in the English Bible " high estate" 



108 THE SON OF DAVID. 

very remarkably signifies hereafter as to time ; and "from 
above" as to place. And Paul says " The Second Man," 
of whom the first Adam was a figure, " is the Lord from 
heaven." 1 Cor. xv. 47. On this occasion it seems 
David first learned that the Messiah should be of the fruit 
of his loins, and inherit his throne. And this furnishes 
the foundation of most of his Psalms in which he cele- 
brates the glory and blessedness of the kingdom here 
promised. It is also evident that he did not expect this 
to be fulfilled in any of his immediate successors, for he 
says, " Thou hast also spoken of thy servant's house for 
a great while to come." Without doubt, then, the son of 
David here referred to is no other than Jesus, who is also 
the Son of God ; and Paul in Heb. i. 5, quotes 1 Chron. 
xvii. 13, "I will be to him a Father and he shall be my 
Son," as applicable to Jesus Christ and to no other, not 
even to angels. And though in the parallel place in 2 Sam. 
vii. 14, it is added " If he commit iniquity, &c," which 
is seemingly inapplicable to the Son of God who knew 
no sin ; yet this difficulty is not only obviated by the trans- 
lation which Dr. Clarke adopts as the true one, but its ap- 
plicability to the Son of God is unquestionably established, 
for he says that literally rendered it is " I will be his Fa- 
ther, and he shall be my Son ; even in his sufferings 
for iniquity, I shall chasten him with the rod of men 
(due to men) and with the stripes of (due to) the children of 
Adam." And this agrees with what is written in Isa. liii. 
5, " He was wounded for our transgressions, he was 
bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace 
was upon him: and with his stripes we are healed." 
Hence too David seems to have understood that this Son 
of his should first suffer for sin ; for as Peter says, Acts 
ii, 30, 31, " Being a prophet and knowing that God had 
sworn with an oath, to him, that of the fruit of his loins, 
according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit 



THE SON OF DAVID. 109 

on his throne ; he seeing this before, spake of the resur- 
rection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his 
flesh did see corruption." 

Who, then but Jesus can be this Son of David ? His 
mother Mary the (laughter of Heli of the main branch or 
stem of the family, was heiress of the throne of David, in 
default of male issue ; and she was espoused to Joseph son 
of Jacob of the next lateral branch, so that both by his 
mother Mary of whom he was born, and by Joseph to 
whom he was legally a son, Jesus is the indisputable heir 
of David's throne. He is, too, the Son of God, and is 
thus spoken of in Isa. ix. 6, 7, " For unto us a child 
is born, unto us a Son is given, and the govern- 
ment shall be upon his shoulders and his name shall 
be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the 
Father of the everlasting age, the Prince of Peace. Of the 
increase of his government and peace there shall be no 
end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to 
order it, and to establish it, with judgment and with justice 
from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of 
hosts will perform this." He is the only begotten of the 
Father, and was made flesh and dwelt among us for a time 
until he made atonement for sin, and then he ascended to 
the throne of God and sat down on the right hand of the 
majesty on high ; henceforth expecting till his enemies be 
made his footstool. Hence also David in spirit calleth him 
Lord, Ps. cv. 1, " The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou 
at my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool." 
And so in him shall the covenant be fulfilled, " Moreover 
I will subdue all thine enemies," for all things must be 
subdued unto the Son. We see, then, that Jesus is that 
Son of David, and in despite of the humility of his con- 
dition when first he came, we exclaim with Nathaniel, 
" Rabboni ! thou art the Son of God ; thou art the king of 
Israel." 

10 



110 THE KINGDOM. 

But we must now inquire into the nature of his king- 
dom. Will it be a great and glorious reality ; — an osten- 
sible government, with its substantial polity, officers, sub- 
jects, territory, a dominion yet future and to be established 
on this earth, in which the Son of David will obtain the 
throne of Israel, and reign personally over the house of 
Jacob, as really as did David or Solomon ; according to 
the palpable and literal representations of the word of pro- 
phecy ? Or is it an ideal sovereignty of a spiritual charac- 
ter only, already introduced into the world and secretly 
and invisibly extending itself by means of the gospel over 
the hearts and lives of mankind ; according to an allegori- 
cal and mystical interpretation of scripture, which reduces 
the whole to an imaginary and fanciful representation of 
the gospel dispensation ? Abiding by the grammatical con- 
struction of prophecy we adopt the former view and re- 
ject the latter. We must not, however, be understood as 
denying the work of the Divine Spirit in connection with 
this subject, or in any way depreciating the present dispen- 
sation : for we believe that the kingdom of Christ will be 
spiritual so far as that term imports the character and be- 
nefits of it, resulting from the operation of ihe spirit of 
God ; such as gracious affections — heavenly-mindedness — 
and conformity to the divine law ; inasmuch as the qualifi- 
cation for the glory of that state does not consist in ritual 
observances concerning meat and drink, but in righteous- 
ness, peace, and joy in the holy spirit. Rom. xiv. 17. But 
we do not limit the work of the spirit to the moral fitness 
of the saints, we extend it to all that is implied by the "re- 
generation" or renovation which shall take place, when 
the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his kingdom, 
Matt. xix. 28, and to which there appears to be a reference 
in Ps. civ. 30, 31, " Thou sendest forth thy spirit; they 
are created (or created again) and thou renewest the face 
of the earth. The glory of the Lord shall endure for 



THE KINGDOM. J 11 

ever: the Lord shall rejoice in his works." And in Isa. 
xxxiii. 15-18, it is predicted that the land of Israel shall 
remain under the curse, " until the spirit be poured upon 
us from on high, ancfthe wilderness be a fruitful field, and 
the fruitful field be counted for a forest. Then judgment 
shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in 
the fruitful field ; and the work of righteousness shall be 
peace ; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assur- 
ance for ever." 

But we cannot admit that the throne and kingdom of 
David, mean the gospel dispensation, or that sovereignty 
acquired over the hearts of men through the instrumen- 
tality of the gospel. No just principle of interpretation 
will sanction this fancy. And so to spiritualize the pro- 
phecy is to discard the laws of language and yield scrip- 
tural exegesis to the caprice of the imagination. Our text 
asserts most positively that the Lord God shall give to 
Jesus the son of Mary " the throne of his father David 
and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever." And 
the covenant made with David asserts in equally clear 
and positive terms, he will settle him in his house and in 
his kingdom for ever, and his throne shall be established 
for evermore. This covenant is to be fulfilled when the 
Lord shall plant his people Israel permanently in the land 
of promise, no more to be removed or wasted by their 
enemies as they have been aforetime and now are. And 
this undoubtedly refers to a future restoration of the child- 
ren of Israel who were wasted in the days of the judges 
by the incursions of their enemies, and who have since 
been plucked up out of their own land, and dispersed 
among the gentiles. They are to be planted again, to be 
removed no more. So it is said in Jer. xxxi. 27, &c, " Be- 
hold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will sow the 
house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of 
man and with the seed of beast ; and it shall come to pass 



112 ITS RESTORATION. 

that like as I watched over them, to pluck up and to break 
down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict ; so 
will I watch over them to build and to plant saith the Lord." 
And this is to be at a time when " they shall teach no more 
every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, say- 
ing, Know the Lord ; for they shall all know me from the 
least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord." 
Many passages of like import might be adduced, but one 
more must suffice to establish this point. It is Amos, ix. 
1 1-15, " In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David 
that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will 
raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old ; 
that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all 
the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the Lord 
that doeth this. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, 
that the ploughman shall overtake the reaper, and the 
treader of grapes him that soweth seed ; and the moun- 
tains shall drop sweet wine and the hills shall melt. And 
I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and 
they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them ; and 
they shall plant vineyards and drink the wine thereof; 
they shall also make gardens and eat the fruit of them : 
And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no 
more be pulled up out of their land which I have given 
them, saith the Lord God." These passages evidently 
refer to the planting of Israel promised in the covenant 
with David. James in Acts xv. 16, 17, refers to the 
building of the tabernacle of David, as an event which is 
to take place at the Lord's return, after God has by the 
present dispensation, taken out of the gentiles a people for 
his name. The tabernacle of David is his kingdom which 
was to be destroyed on account of the wickedness of the 
kings, as we find in Amos ix. 8, 9, " Behold the eyes of 
the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom. And I will 
destroy it from off the face of the earth : saving that I will 



ITS RESTORATION. 113 

not utterly destroy the house of Jacob saith the Lord. 
For lo, I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, 
like as corn is sifteoLin a sieve ; yet shall not the least 
grain fall upon the earth." And how completely has this 
prediction been fulfilled. The kingdom has long since 
fallen ; but the house of Jacob remains sifted among the 
nations. The tabernacle of David fell when Zedekiah 
was dethroned by the king of Babylon and still remains 
in a fallen state,, for none of David's seed have reigned 
over Israel since : but it shall be raised up again when he 
shall come whose right it is, as God says in Ezek. xxi. 
25-27, " And thou profane, wicked prince of Israel (Ze- 
dekiah) whose day is come when iniquity shall have an end ; 
thus saith the Lord God, Remove the diadem and take off 
the crown : this shall not be the same ; exalt him that is 
low and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, 
overturn it ; and it shall be no more, until he come whose 
right it is and I will give it him." This tabernacle of Da- 
vid will be raised up again when Jesus shall come and take 
the kingdom as his right. And then according to the 
word of the Lord, Isa. xvi. 5, " In mercy shall the throne 
be established ; and he shall sit upon it in truth in the 
tabernacle of David, judging and seeking judgment and 
hasting righteousness." 

We learn, then, that the house of Jacob, now dispersed 
and sifted as corn among all nations, but wonderfully pre- 
served as a distinct people, are to be restored to their own 
land and become a nation again : and that the kingdom of 
David is to be set up over them, and that Christ the Son 
of David is to be their king. Therefore it is written in 
Zeph. iii. 14, 15, " Sing O daughter of Zion, shout O 
Israel ; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, daughter 
of Jerusalem. The Lord hath taken away thy judgments 
(punishments) he hath cast out thine enemy : The king 
of Israel even the Lord, is in the midst of thee : thou 
10* 



1 14 EXTENT AND CHARACTER. 

shalt not see evil any more. It was to this the disciples 
had reference when they inquired of Jesus, " Lord, wilt 
thou at this time restore the kingdom unto Israel." And of 
which the Savior told them in reply, that the Father had 
reserved the knowledge of the time of its restoration in 
his own power or right. 

But the territory of the kingdom will be not only the 
land of Israel ; but also all the earth; and his subjects 
will not be the restored Jews alone, but all nations : This 
is clearly revealed, in Ps. ii. 8, "Ask of me," says God 
to the Son, »* and I will give thee the heathen for thine 
inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy 
possession." Again Zech. xiv. 9, " And the Lord shall be 
king over all the earth ; in that day there shall be one 
Lord and his name one." And Ps. lxxii. 8-11, "He shall 
have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto 
the ends of the earth. Yea, all kings shall fall down before 
him : all nations shall serve him." 

Righteousness and peace shall characterize his govern- 
ment ; for " many people shall go and say, Come ye, 
and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house 
of the God of Jacob ; and he will teach us of his ways, 
and we will walk in his paths : for out of Zion shall go 
forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 
And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke 
many people; and they shall beat their swords into 
ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks ; nation 
shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they 
learn war any more." Isa. ii. 3, 4. 

And the saints of God shall constitute the polity of that 
glorious kingdom : for they shall be made kings and priests 
unto God and reign on the earth. Rev. v. 10. Of them it 
is said in Isa. lx. 17, " I will also make thy officers peace, 
and thine exactors righteousness." Hence Christ told his 
disciples that in the regeneration or renewing of all things, 



DURATION. 115 

when he should sit on the throne of his kingdom, they 
also should sit on twelve thrones judging or exercising do- 
minion over the j/welve tribes of Israel. Mat. xix. 28. 
Paul says, 1 Cor. vi. 22, " Know ye not that the saints 
shall judge the world," i. e. govern the world, for it refers 
to magistratic rule. The sweet singer of Israel makes it 
the theme of Ps. cxlix. 4-9. For the Lord taketh pleasure 
in his people ; he will beautify the meek with salvation. 
Let the saints be joyful in glory, let them sing aloud upon 
their beds (or couches, reclining as at a festive board.) Let 
the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two 
edged sword in their hand ; to execute vengeance upon 
the heathens, and punishments upon the people ; to bind 
their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of 
iron. To execute upon them the judgment written. This 
honor have all the saints. " Praise ye the Lord." And 
in Dan. vii. 27, it is said that " The kingdom and domi- 
nion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole 
heavens shall be given to the people of the saints of the 
most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and 
all dominions shall serve and obey him." 

The kingdom of Christ will continue for ever, as out 
text asserts, " And of his kingdom there shall be no end." 
The millennial dispensation will be its commencement. It 
will pass through different phases of increasing glory and 
dominion ; for of the increase of his government and 
peace there shall be no end. Conquest after conquest 
shall be obtained over his enemies, and each successive 
victory will add new lustre to his crown, and strength to 
his sceptre, until every foe shall be subdued, and made sub- 
ject to his sway, and he shall present to the Father a world 
wholly redeemed from the curse of sin, and consecrated as 
an everlasting habitation of the self-existent one who filleth 
all things. 



DISCOUESE ELEVENTH. 

THE FIRST ADVENT OF CHRIST— THE SHILOH— THE 
IMMANUEL — HIS BIRTH-PLACE — HIS CONDITION 
AND SUFFERINGS— RESURRECTION AND EXALTA- 
TION—REFLECTIONS. 

" But now hath he once appeared in the end of the world to put 
away sin by the sacrifice of himself."— Heb. ix. 26. 

The history of our race has been marked by several 
important eras, which distinguish the dispensations of 
God's mercy to man. None are more remarkable than 
that of the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, 
known as the Christian era ; and which Paul speaks of as 
" the fulness of the time, when God sent forth his Son, 
made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them 
that were under the law, that we might receive the adop- 
tion of sons." Gal. iv. 4, 5. From the moment in which 
God inspired the mind of fallen man with the hope of sal- 
vation, by the predicted triumph of the woman's seed over 
the evil one, believers in all ages looked for the coming 
of that divine person. For four thousand years the fulfil- 
ment of the promise was delayed ; but expectation was 
cherished by repeated revelations of God to the fathers by 
the prophets, who made his coming the subject of their 
sweetest songs, and the theme of their sublimest eloquence. 
In their predictions this wonderful person is presented be- 
fore us in two conditions : the first, one of deep humilia- 
tion and painful suffering; the second, one of exalted 
glory and unbounded joy. The scheme is one, the re- 
demption of the world ; but it consists of two grand scenes ; 
and these, though frequently exhibited in close connection, 
are distinctly traced. Events requiring ages for their ac- 
complishment are sometimes in prophecy expressed in a 
(116) 



THE SHILOH. 117 

single sentence, and to the unpractised eye they may seem 
as if blended together. The " unskilful in the word cf 
righteousness," may readily confound them, and hence 
the minister of the-gospel is required to " study to show 
himself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not 
to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth," and 
administer the same according to the analogy of faith. In 
the exercise of this duty, it is my design in this discourse 
to point out some of the most prominent predictions re- 
specting the coming of Christ, fulfilled by his first advent, 
of which Paul says, " But now hath he once appeared in 
the end of the world." 

I. " The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a 
lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come ; and 
unto him shall the gatherings of the people be." Gen. 
xlix. 10. This prediction relates to the coming of the 
Messiah. It is particularly important as it defines the 
time of his coming in relation to other events, It has 
been the subject of much criticism. The word Shiloh 
signifies, Him that is sent, and designates the Messiah as 
the sent of God, and hence Paul calls him the Apostle 
and High Priest of our profession. Heb. iii. 1. The 
sceptre is a badge of civil authority, and the prediction 
imports that the tribe of Judah, of which Jacob was 
speaking, should obtain a pre-eminence among the other 
tribes of Israel, and retain the same until the coming of 
the Messiah. And this was truly fulfilled, for the govern- 
ment was held in the tribe of Judah after the accession 
of David to the throne, and continued therein to some 
extent until after the birth of Christ. For even during the 
captivity in Babylon, the Jews appear to have had among 
themselves a sort of " irnperium in imperio" and after 
their return, although they were tributary to a foreign 
power, yet they had rulers of their own, until the com- 
mencement of the Christian era. But at the verv time of 



118 THE SHILOH. 

Christ's birth their power began to wane ; for then the first 
taxing and enrolling of the people took place under the 
decree of Caesar Augustus, the Roman emperor. Thus 
they were deprived of the sceptre, or civil authority, and 
seventy years afterwards they were sold as slaves by the 
conquering Romans, and carried captive into all countries. 

Dr. Clarke says, that in a very ancient Arabic manu- 
script in his possession, the word sebet, tribe, is used in 
this place instead of shebet, sceptre. On this reading, 
the sense would be, that Judah shpuld continue a distinct 
tribe, until Shiloh come. And in this sense it has also 
been fulfilled, for the tribe remained distinct until subse- 
quent to the first advent of Christ. This prophecy must 
have been fulfilled by the coming of the Shiloh, else 
Judah would still exist as a distinct tribe bearing civil au- 
thority ; but it is now about eighteen hundred years since 
they lost their civil power, and there perhaps does not 
exist a single descendant of Israel who can certainly de- 
termine to which of the tribes he belongs. 

This prophecy also imports that the authority to rule 
and govern must devolve upon Shiloh, and that to him, 
therefore, as the only King and Lawgiver, " shall the 
gatherings of the people be." This part of the prophecy, 
however, remains yet to be fulfilled ; for though the right 
is his, the possession is delayed until the time appointed 
by the Father. We admit, indeed, that during our Sa- 
vior's ministry on earth, there were gatherings of the 
people to him, to hear his doctrines and see his miracles ; 
and that since his exaltation to the right hand of God as a 
Prince and a Savior, there has been a continual gather- 
ing to him of believers, both of the Jews and Gentiles, by 
the gospel, yet these do not fulfil the prediction, which has 
reference to his government over Israel, when, as the 
Lion of the Tribe of Judah, his hand shall be in the neck 
of his enemies, and when his brethren who now reject 



THE SHILOH. 119 

him shall bow down to him. This shall, however, be ful- 
filled at his second advent, when all his saints shall be 
gathered together to him, and constitute the polity of his 
kingdom ; and (hlfjews shall be restored to their own 
land and be a nation again on the mountains of Israel, 
under his immediate government. And when " it shall 
come to pass that from one new moon to another, and 
from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to wor- 
ship before me, saith the Lord." Isa. Ixvi. 23. To these 
gatherings the prediction relates. 

Using the New Testament as a commentary upon the 
Old, we are enabled rightly to divide this prophecy so as 
to show what part relates to the first advent and what to 
the second. The sceptre was to depart from Judah, and 
the Jewish state and polity terminate at the first coming. 
Hence Paul, in our text, designates the period as the " end 
of the world,'''' or as McKnight renders it, " the conclusion 
of the ages." The term undoubtedly refers in this place 
to the end or termination of the Mosaic dispensation or 
the times of the law. The same event which deprived 
Judah of the sceptre, ended the times of the law ; and 
hence Jerusalem was destroyed and the nation dispersed. 
And they must continue in their dispersion until Shiloh 
shall come the second time, and restore the sceptre and 
raise up the tabernacle of David. 

The " end of the world," or ages, {i<*v aiu>vu>v,) is, hi 
Gal. iv. 4, termed the u fulness of the time," and has re- 
spect to the preceding dispensations as immature, that is, 
not brought to a suitable state for the coming of Christ; 
and implies that they were times of preparation, during 
which, by promise, prediction, and type, God made known 
his purpose of sending his Son into the world. The com- 
ing of Christ at an earlier period would have been un- 
timely. It was necessary that the world should be under 
a course of preparation, as an heir is under tutors and 



120 THE IMMANUEL. 

.governors during his minority, and it would have been as 
unwise to have anticipated the time of the first advent, as 
to give an heir possession and control of his estate while 
yet a child. The " end of the ages" or the "fulness of 
the time," then denotes the maturity of the world for the 
event, and the completion of the preparation. And when 
all things were ready, Christ came. There was no ne- 
cessity for his coming previously. No loss resulted from 
the delay. The promises and ordinances of God furnished 
a sufficient ground for faith, and a suitable mode for its 
expression, to the preceding ages, so that all believers were 
pardoned, renewed, and sanctified on the ground of that 
atonement which was to be attested in due time. 

There is also an " end of the age" and a "fulness of 
time,'' for the second advent of Christ. Nor will he come 
sooner than the time appointed of the Father. The pre- 
sent dispensation is a time of preparation for that event, 
and when the preparation is complete, when the harvest is 
ripe, then, and not till then, will the Lord come again the 
second time without sin unto salvation. It is not neces- 
sary that he should come sooner. His delay may be a 
trial of the faith and patience of his saints, and furnish 
scoffers with an occasion of cavil ; but God, who seeth the 
end from the beginning, is in no hurry on account of the 
latter, while he supplies the former with grace for grace. 
But the day of the Lord will come, and the second advent 
take place as surely as did the first in its appointed season. 

II. " Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, 
and shall call his name Immanuel." Isa. vii. 14. We 
find by reading the context of this remarkable prediction, 
that Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah, king of Israel, 
formed a conspiracy against Judah, " to vex it, and make 
a breach in it, and set a king in the midst of it," and thus 
overthrow the civil government. Now since God had 
promised that the sceptre, or civil authority, should not 



THE IMMANUEL. 121 

depart from Judah until Shiloh come, he was pledged by 
his own word to defeat their purpose, and he commanded 
Isaiah to go and tell Ahaz, king of Judah, that the design 
of the conspirators^should "not stand nor come to pass." 
For if the word of God could be broken in one particular, 
it might also in another. And the king was told to ask a 
sign whereby he might know that the purpose of Rezin 
and Pekah should be frustrated ; but he refused to do so, 
lest it should seem as if he doubted God's word. And 
God then said, that he would give him a sign, which is no 
other than a repetition of the former prophecy respecting 
Shiloh, in other terms. " Behold a virgin shall conceive 
and bring forth a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.' , 
By this the king of Judah was assured that the Jews 
should continue a distinct people, and possess civil autho- 
rity until Messiah should come, who was to be born of a 
virgin. This sign was fulfilled when the Virgin Mary, of 
the house of David, brought forth her first-born son, as we 
find by Mat. i. 22, 23. " Now all this was done that it 
might be fulfilled, which was spoken of the Lord by the 
prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall conceive, &c." 
But when it did come to pass, and the Immanuel appeared 
among men, the Jews would not believe. He came to 
his own, but they received him not; and for their rejec- 
tion of him, their state and polity were destroyed, and they 
were dispersed into all the earth, thus illustrating the say- 
ing of the prophet in v. 9. " If ye will not believe ; 
surely ye shall not be established." They did not be- 
lieve, and they were not established. For their unbelief 
they were cut off. 

III. " But thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be 
little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall 
He come forth unto me that is to be Ruler in Israel ; 
whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlast- 
ing." This unquestionably refers to Christ, the Shiloh 
11 



122 HIS BIRTH-PA.ACE. 

and Immanuel of the foregoing predictions. In this is 
pointed out the place of his nativity, when made of a 
woman. Hence, when the wise men came from the east 
to Jerusalem, in the days of Herod the King, making in- 
quiry for the new born king of the Jews, Herod collected 
the scribes and elders together, and demanded of them 
where Christ should be born ; and turning to this passage 
they replied, "In Bethlehem, for thus it is written." 
And thus, too, was it fulfilled, for though Joseph resided 
at Nazareth, in Galilee, yet when the taxing took place, 
he was obliged to go to Bethlehem, with Mary the mother 
of Jesus, to be enrolled and taxed in Bethlehem, where 
the family estate was; and while there Jesus was born. 
The same night the angel of the Lord appeared to a com- 
pany of shepherds, who were watching their flocks in the 
fields, and said to them, "Fear not; for behold I bring 
you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people ; 
for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Sa- 
vior which is Christ the Lord." Luke ii. 1-11. 

This prediction shows also that Christ is the Son of 
God, begotten before all things ; for it says, his " going 
forth was of old, from everlasting" His coming forth 
out of Bethlehem, signifies his nativity as the son of 
Mary ; and his going forth from of old signifies his 
generation as the Son of God. The going forth is put 
in opposition to the coming forth ; and as the latter im- 
ports his generation as the son of man in time, so the 
former imports his generation as the Son of God, from 
everlasting. Hence he is called Immanuel, God with us ; 
and he is that son of David who is also the Son of God, 
heir of all things, and " He that is to be Ruler in Israel." 
This latter clause of the prediction still awaits its fulfilment. 
He is to be Ruler in Israel. At his second coming " the 
Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 



HIS CONDITION AND SUFFERINGS. 123 

and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever." 
Luke i. 33. 

IV. The condition and sufferings of Christ, involving 
also the design of-his first advent, were the subject of 
prophecy. In Ps. xxii. it is foretold that he should be a 
reproach of men and despised of the people," that they 
would " pierce his hands and his feet," and taunt him in 
the hour of his greatest sufferings as one abandoned of 
God, that they would part his garments among them, and 
cast lots for his vesture. In Isa. liii. it is predicted that he 
should grow up as a root out of a dry ground, having no 
form nor comeliness ; that he should be despised and re- 
jected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with 
grief; that he should be oppressed and afflicted, yet patient 
as a lamb brought, to the slaughter ; that he should be cut 
off out of the land of the living, and make his grave with 
the wicked and with the rich in his death. And how lite- 
rally all these items were fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth, 
the testimony of the evangelists shows. At the time of 
his birth the family of David was as a dry ground, being 
reduced to deep poverty and living in obscurity, and though 
entitled to the family estate at Bethlehem, yet the only 
accommodations they could obtain at the time was a stable, 
which became the birth-place of Jesus. During his min- 
istry Christ had not where to lay his head, and his attend- 
ants were a few poor fishermen. The great and noble 
held him in scorn and derision, and his enemies finally 
conspired against his life, and after the most shameful 
mocking, nailed him to the cross, and taunted him, saying, 
" He saved others, himself he cannot save. If he be the 
Christ let him now come down from the cross, and we 
will believe him." Thus they fulfilled the things that 
were written concerning him. 

Prophecy also indicated most clearly the design of his 
humiliation and sufferings. For Isaiah says again, " Surely 



124 HIS CONDITION AND SUFFERINGS. 

he hath borne our grief, and carried our sorrows : he was 
wounded for our transgressions ; bruised for our iniqui- 
ties; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and 
with his stripes wk are healed ; for the transgression of 
my people was he stricken, and, thou shalt make his soul 
an offering for sin." With these also correspond the 
prevailing sentiment of the New Testament writers, when 
speaking of his sufferings, that he " is the propitiation for 
our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the 
whole world" and that " his blood cleanseth us from all 
sin." Hence the angel informed Daniel, that after a cer- 
tain period Messiah should be cut off, but not for himself; 
the design of his death being to finish the transgression, 
and to make an end of sins ; and to make reconciliation for 
iniquity ; and to bring in everlasting righteousness. Dan. 
rx. 24, &c. The transgression to be finished is the official 
disobedience of the first Adam, from which Christ redeems 
us ; for, " As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all 
be made alive." The death of Christ is also a propitia- 
tion for the sins of Adam's posterity, for he gave himself 
a ransom for all, and tasted death for every man. Through 
his blood, too, we have peace with God, who is just and 
the justifier of every one that belie veth in Jesus, who of 
God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanc- 
tification, and redemption, having put away our sins by the 
sacrifice of himself. 

The term u to put away sm," has been rendered by 
McKnight " to abolish sin offerings" which being 
merely types of "the sacrifice of himself" were no 
longer needed after they were answered by the antitype. 
And it is remarkable, that, not long after the death of 
Christ, Jerusalem was destroyed, and the sin offerings of 
the Levitical code were abolished, and have never since 
been resumed : so that Israel has been providentially pre- 
sented from mocking God with a continual repetition of 



HIS RESURRECTION. 125 

typical sacrifices. And in this they may read a condem- 
nation of their unbelief in, and rejection of, that one sacri- 
fice for sin which Christ has offered. 

Between the " ordinances of divine service," as insti- 
tuted by the law, and the ministrations of Christ, of which 
they were typical delineations or figures, there is a beau- 
tiful analogy, which is traced by the apostle in this chap- 
ter. Among these was the ordinance that the High Priest 
should, once a year, enter with the blood of the lamb, pre- 
viously slain, into the holy of holies, to make atonement 
for the sins of the people. On these occasions he wore 
the breastplate of judgment, by which the will of God was 
to be ascertained; and, after he had performed the service, 
he returned to pronounce the judgment, as indicated by 
the Urim and Thummim of the breastplate, upon the peo- 
ple who waited in the outer sanctuary for his return. To 
this there is reference in the 27th and 28th vv. of this 
chapter. " For as it is appointed unto men (the High 
Priests) once to die, (that is, sacrificially, as types of 
Christ, being regarded as identical with the lambs whose 
blood they carried into the most holy place,) and after this 
the judgment, (which, on their return from the holy of 
holies, they pronounced on the waiting people,) even so 
Christ was once offered, (Christ was both the priest and 
the sacrifice,) to bear the sins of many, and to them that 
look for him, (his saints,) shall he return the second time, 
(from the holiest of all, where he has for us entered,) with- 
out sin (not to repeat his sacrifice, as the High Priest did, 
but) unto salvation," (to judge and save his people.) 

V. His resurrection from the dead, and his exaltation to 
the right hand of God during the present dispensation, 
were also clearly predicted. David being a prophet, and 
knowing that God had sworn to him with an oath, that of 
the fruit of his loins he would raise up Christ to sit upon 
his throne, spake of him, or prophetically for him, say- 
11* 



126 HIS EXALTATION. 

ing, " I have set the Lord always before me ; because he 
is at my right hand I shall not be moved, therefore my 
heart is glad and my glory rejoiceth ; my flesh also shall 
rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell ; 
neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption." 
Ps. xvi. 8-10. This was fulfilled in Christ, who, being 
raised from the dead the third day, saw no corruption. 
And in Psl. ex. 4, David predicts his exaltation, saying, 
" The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand 
till I make thine enemies thy footstool." And Paul says, 
" But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, 
for ever sat down on the right hand of God ; from hence- 
forth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool." 
Heb. x. 12, 13. 

Thus prophecy conducts us through the scenes of our 
Redeemer's humiliation and sufferings, from his entrance 
into the world as the babe of Bethlehem, until he ascended 
to the right hand of the Majesty on high ; describing not 
only his condition generally, but specifying many of 
the minutest circumstances of his life and death, all of 
which have been fulfilled with a literal exactness, which 
confirms our faith in him as our great High Priest, and 
all-atoning sacrifice ; and awakens our hope that in due 
time he will come again, in power and great glory, to com* 
plete our salvation and crown us with eternal life. For he 
is our King, and he will come and save us. 

What an instructive interpretation of prophecy is here 
given ! Thus it is written, and thus it was fulfilled. 
And if all that related to his humiliation and suffering has 
been literally and fully accomplished, shall not also all that 
relates to his future glory and everlasting kingdom be as 
literally fulfilled ? Is it any more incredible that he should 
come to reign, than that he should come to suffer ? that he 
should come in glory and receive the homage of his re- 
deemed, than that he should come to be buffeted, spit 



REFLECTIONS. 127 

upon, and crucified as a malefactor ? Surely not. We 
see in him the seed of the woman whose heel has truly- 
been bruised in the conflict with the serpent; but who shall 
deliver a world frorrrfuin and abolish sin and death. We 
see in him the seed of Abraham, in whom all the families 
of the earth shall be blessed ; the Shiloh to whom the 
gatherings of the people shall be, and the son of David, 
who shall sit on the throne of his kingdom to order and to 
establish it with justice and with judgment for ever. 

The first advent of Christ was a necessary part of the 
Divine plan. Without it redemption could not be effected. 
It connected him with our race and subjected him to our 
condition, without partaking of our depravity or being pol- 
luted by our sins. It brought him into circumstances in 
which he could be tempted, without lessening his power 
to overcome the tempter. It rendered him capable of 
suffering and death, without subjecting him to the penalty 
of the law. It possessed him of all the natural attributes 
of a mediator between God and men, combined with un- 
blemished holiness. It tempered his soul with the sym- 
pathies of our nature, without weakening his love to the 
Father, or abating his zeal for the truth. And " though he 
were a son, yet learned he obedience by the things which 
he suffered, and being made perfect he became the author 
of eternal salvation to all them that obey him." Heb. v. 
8, 9. The ages preceding the Christian era were charac- 
terized by numerous sacrificial offerings, in which remem- 
brance was made of sin, by their daily repetition, importing 
their inefficiency in themselves. But they were typical 
of the sacrifice of Christ, who coming in the end of the 
world, or the conclusion of those typical ages, hath, 
" through the eternal spirit, offered himself without spot 
to God." " And after he had offered one sacrifice for 
sin, for ever sat down on the right hand of God ; hence- 
forth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool." 



REFLECTIONS. 

♦ Behold then the mystery of his incarnation, his lowly 
condition, his life of self-denial, his death of agony and 
shame ! Misery and death follow in the steps of sin, and 
all creation groans under the curse. The redemption of 
the world demands that sin be first abolished. This 
crushed and broken earth would lie in ruins for ever if sin 
continued to reign. Hence Christ must first make an end 
of sin, and bring in everlasting righteousness, else there 
could be no recovery. To accomplish this he left the 
bosom of the Father, and came into this sinful world ; for 
this he was born in a stable, and took a servant's form ; for 
this he became a man of sorrows and acquainted with 
grief; for this he was betrayed, mocked, derided, insulted, 
and slain. And when at last he said, " It is finished," and 
gave up the ghost, the demands of justice were satisfied ; 
the debt was paid; the world redeemed, that is, so far as 
his sufferings were necessary to effect redemption. Now 
he sits at the right hand of God, empowered to carry on 
the great work through the instrumentality of his gospel, 
until the church of the first-born shall be completed, when 
he will come again to glorify them, together with himself, 
in the kingdom which he hath promised. 



DISCOURSE TWELFTH. 

THE ASPECT OF~THE KINGDOM TO THE JEWS AT 
THE FIRST ADVENT OF CHRIST— THE KINGDOM 
OFFERED TO THE JEWS— REJECTED BY THEM— 
TAKEN FROM THEM — DESTRUCTION OF THEIR 
NATIONAL POLITY AND CITY— THE GOSPEL DIS- 
PENSATION AND CALLING OF THE GENTILES— 
THE KINGDOM TO BE GIVEN TO THE SAINTS. 

And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables and 
said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king which made 
a marriage for his son ; and he sent forth his servants to call them 
that were bidden to the wedding. And they would not come. Again 
he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, 
Behold I have prepared my dinner ; my oxen and my fatlings are 
killed, and all things are ready ; Come to the marriage. But they 
made light of it and went their ways, one to his farm, another to 
his merchandise, and the remnant took his servants, and entreated 
them spitefully and slew them. But when the king heard thereof, 
he was wroth ; and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those 
murderers and burned up their city. Then he said to his servants, 
The wedding is ready ; but they which were bidden were not worthy ; 
go ye, therefore, into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid 
to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways and 
gathered together all, as many as they found, both bad and good ; 
and the wedding was furnished with guests. — Matt. xxii. 1-10. 

The term kingdom of heaven, or kingdom of God, is 
used to designate the future glorious and everlasting king- 
dom of our Lord Jesus Christ. It has different aspects 
when considered in its relation to different dispensations 
and objects. These embrace its incipient, progressive, and 
perfected condition. One of them is presented in the 
parable before us. It is the aspect of the Kingdom at the 
first advent of Christ and the gospel dispensation — a sub- 
let of interesting and profitable contemplation, and one 

(129) 



130 KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. 

which gives a clue to the meaning of some otherwise ob- 
scure passages of Scripture. 

Some expositors think the kingdom of heaven signifies 
the gospel dispensation and others that it means a spiritual 
reign in the heart of man. The former found their 
opinion on such declarations as Matt. iii. 2. " Repent ye, 
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand ;" which it is sup- 
posed must refer to the gospel dispensation then about to 
be introduced. And the latter draw their conclusions 
from such passages as Luke xvii. 20, 21. " And when 
he was demanded of the Pharisees when the kingdom of 
God should come ? He answered them, and said, The 
kingdom of God cometh not with observation, neither 
shall they say, Lo, here ! or, Lo, there ! for behold the 
kingdom of God is within you," which, it is alleged, must 
have respect to the reign of grace in the heart. Hence the 
term kingdom of grace has been coined to represent the 
idea and with many passes current as Scripture. We have 
no objection to it when restricted to its legitimate sphere as 
a figurative representation of the dominion of grace in the 
heart of man, or the general prevalence of Christianity in 
the world ; but protest against its being substituted for the 
kingdom of heaven, thus reducing to a figure of speech 
a glorious reality, and frittering away the substance of the 
gospel hope. There is no necessity for spiritualizing the 
term kingdom of heaven, or imposing other and strange 
meanings upon it. The passages quoted above, and others 
of like import, admit of being explained in strict accord- 
ance with the obvious signification of the term, and the 
aspect of the kingdom to the Jewish nation at that time. 
This, we think, will appear as we proceed. A general 
expectation of the kingdom of God prevailed at the time 
of the first advent of Christ. It was the hope of Israel, 
and the first note of its approach, sounded by the har- 
binger of the Messiah, stirred the heart of the whole 



KINGDOM OFFERED TO THE JEWS. 131 

nation. And when Jesus began his ministry, saying, 
" The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of heaven is at 
hand," expectation was at its height. And in this language 
we have the call o£-the Jews to the wedding ; or in other 
words,* 

I. The Kingdom offered to the Jewish nation. 
John the Baptist and his disciples are represented by the 
servants first sent to call them that were bidden to the 
wedding. The Jews were the invited guests, for to them 
God had sent his prophets, rising up early and sending 
them. The offer of the kingdom was now made to them 
by John's ministry but they refused it. The other ser- 
vants sent with a more full and persuasive message repre- 
sent the ministry of Christ and his apostles, by whom the 
offer was reiterated. And Jesus assured the Jews that 
the kingdom of God had no doubt come upon them or 
was extended to them. Luke xi. 20. It had, therefore, 
come nigh to them in an important sense, as we may learn 
from Matt. xxi. 43. " Therefore, I say unto you the king- 
dom of heaven shall be taken from you, and given to a 
nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." For it could not 
be taken from them, unless it had in some sense truly 
come to them and been made theirs. And from this we 
learn that the kingdom of heaven does not mean the gos- 
pel dispensation ; for this was not taken away from the 
Jews ; but by the express command of Christ was first 
opened at Jerusalem, and for three years or more after his 
resurrection almost exclusively preached to the Jews, and 
is still proclaimed to all ; the Gentile being admitted to its 
blessings and privileges without excluding the Jew. 
Neither can it mean a spiritual reign in the heart, for 
divine grace is free for all, and is bestowed upon all that 
believe, whether Jew or Gentile, for the same Lord over 
all is rich unto all them that call upon him, and from such 
as choose the good part it shall not be taken away. See- 



132 KINGDOM OFFERED TO THE JEWS. 

irig, then, that the Jew is not excluded from the spiritual 
benefits of the gospel dispensation, it cannot be said that 
the gospel dispensation or the kingdom of grace has been 
taken away from them. Consequently the kingdom of 
heaven cannot mean either ; and some other explanation 
must be sought of such passages as represent the kingdom 
as being at hand, as coming upon them, and as taken from 
them. Besides, the gospel is called the glad tidings of 
the kingdom ; and cannot be the kingdom itself, of which 
it is only the glad tidings. And spiritual regeneration or 
the reign of grace, is an essential qualification for the 
possession and enjoyment of the kingdom, as Christ in- 
formed Nicodemus, and cannot be the kingdom for which 
it qualifies us. Maintaining, then, that the reign of 
Christ as the Son of David is referred to, in what sense 
had the kingdom come upon them, and been made theirs? 
The Jews as the descendants of Abraham, were an 
elect nation, and to them God gave the promise of the 
kingdom on condition of their obedience, as we find in Ex. 
xix. 5, 6. " If ye will obey my voice, indeed, and keep 
my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me, 
above all people ; for all the earth is mine : and ye shall 
be unto me a kingdom or priests and a holy nation." 
This promise comprised the glory and blessedness of the 
kingdom of Christ, and the covenant thus made ensured 
to them, on condition of their obedience and fidelity, the 
very same glory and honor, that of being kings and priests 
in the kingdom, which is now in the gospel promised to 
the saints of God. And the first advent of Christ was 
the *< time of their visitation" in which the offer was 
made to them ; and God stood ready to fulfil his covenant 
with them. Hence our Lord said, " the time is fulfilled 
and the kingdom of heaven is at hand." And had they 
believed in him, and received him as the Messiah, he 
would have established his kingdom at once. Nothing 



KINGDOM OFFERED TO THE JEWS. 133 

was wanting on God's part to its actual establishment. In 
the language of the parable, he had prepared his dinner, 
his oxen and fatlings were killed, air things were ready. 
Relatively, the kingdom had con^e'to the Jewish nation. 
God in faithfulness offered it to them according to the 
covenant. That it was not actually established was not 
God's fault. He called, buf they refused. " Tliey would 
not come." Jesus would have gathered them together, as 
a hen doth gather her chickens under her wings, but they 
would not. He wept over their obstinacy and unbelief, 
saying, " If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this 
thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace ! but now 
they are hid from thine eyes." To them the Son of Man 
came as a root out of a dry ground, in whom they saw 
nothing that rendered him desirable as their promised de- 
liverer and king. His humble condition was a stumbling- 
block to them. They despised and rejected him, and by 
their unbelief and wickedness prevented the fulfilment of 
the promise ; and " therefore the kingdom of God was 
taken from them, to be given to a nation bringing forth the 
fruits thereof." It had come to them relatively in the 
ministry of John and Jesus, and would have come abso- 
lutely, if they had been worthy: but as they made light 
of it, and despised the Messiah and crucified him and en- 
treated his servants spitefully and slew them, the covenant 
was broken and the promised glory was forfeited. 

Now when the Pharisees demanded of Christ, when the 
kingdom of God should come ? they had reference to its 
actual establishment. They referred to that glorious mani- 
festation of it predicted by Isaiah and Daniel. And the 
reply of Christ meets the question, and justifies the truth 
of his doctrine, that the kingdom was indeed, at hand, or 
had already come unto them. By the phrase, " The king- 
dom of God eometh not with observation," we are not to 
understand that it will be destitute of external splendor and 
12 



134 KINGDOM OFFERED TO THE JEWS. 

outward form ; that it will be invisible and consequently 
spiritual. This is not the import X)f the words. The 
question related to the time when it should come ? and 
not to the nature of the kingdom ; and the word observa- 
tion (rfapcMtypjfflfcws) comes from a verb (Ttapcw^psw) signify- 
ing to watch closely — to keep strict watch, and signifies 
the act of watching, and may be put for the period of 
watching. And the preposition translated with (psta) may 
be rendered after ; and the sense is, the kingdom of hea- 
ven cometh not after a period of watching — a set time or 
fixed interval, so as that its approach may be observed by 
the efflux of days or months or years. It was not known 
when it would so come, for God had not revealed it : " for 
of that day, and of that hour knoweth no man, no not the 
angels in heaven, neither the son, but the father." Mar. 
xiii. 32. It was not at a fixed time like the Jubilee, the 
coming of which might be calculated by days and hours, 
and its approach noted by observation. On the question 
respecting the time of the outward and visible manifesta- 
tion of the kingdom, all information was denied. And 
when the disciples asked him after his resurrection a simi- 
lar question, he replied, " It is not for you to know the 
times and seasons which the Father hath reserved in his 
own power (or right)." Acts i. 7. 

The phrase, " Neither shall they say, Lo, here ! or, Lo, 
there !" signifies that the kingdom would not come by 
progressive steps. Earthly empires have thus extended 
themselves by their arms, in conquering different coun- 
tries by successive victories, so that it might be said of 
them, " Lo, here !" and Lo, there !" And the Jews were 
liable to be deceived by impostors who should assume to 
be the Christ, and attempt to establish a kingdom in Judea 
in this way. Therefore, he says, (v. 23,) " And they shall 
say see here ! or see there !" i. e., Christ is in this place, 
or he has come and has his camp in that place, "go not 



KINGDOM OFFERED TO THE JEWS. 135 

after them nor follow them ;" for as the lightning that 
lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto 
the other part under heaven ; so shall also the Son of 
man be in his day, when he shall come according to 
Daniel's prediction. His kingdom will not be established 
as earthly kingdoms are ; but will be at once revealed 
over all the land as the lightning's flash is seen by every 
eye. 

The remaining clause is a reiteration of the truth of his 
doctrine which by their question they seemed to challenge, 
that the kingdom of heaven had, indeed, come upon them, 
though it was not openly manifested in its glory. "For, 
behold, the kingdom of God is within you," or as it may 
be rendered, " But, indeed, the kingdom of God is within 
you." Now Christ could not mean that a " spiritual 
reign" was established in the hearts of these Pharisees, 
who were, as he himself testified, " full of hypocrisy and 
deceit;" but his meaning is that the kingdom was now 
indeed, come within the Jewish nation according to the 
promise ; and was offered to them by the coming of the 
just one. 

On this view we can explain the charge Christ gave to 
his disciples when he sent them out to preach, saying, 
" Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city 
of the Samaritans enter ye not : but go rather to the lost 
sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go preach, say- 
ing, the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matt. x. 5-7. 
The ministry of Christ was, as is plain from the parable, 
an offer of the kingdom of heaven to the Jews : hence 
he said, I am not sent, but to the lost sheep of the house 
of Israel. And until the Jews had wholly rejected the 
offer, and consummated that rejection by murdering the 
Prince of Life, the kingdom could not be offered to any 
others. The apostles did not go forth into the highways 
and hedges of Gentileism to furnish guests for the wedding 



136 CALLING OF THE GENTILES. 

until after that event. And on this ground they were for- 
bidden to go to the Gentiles or Samaritans, to preach the 
kingdom to them, at that time, for then it was offered to 
the Jews alone. It was theirs by promise for " to them 
pertained the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants." 
Rom. ix. 4. But as a nation they forfeited all by their 
unbelief and rejection of Christ, and hence it was taken 
away from them, and given to another nation to bring forth 
the fruits thereof. 

II. The destruction of the national polity and 
city of the Jews followed as a consequence of their 
rejection of the kingdom. " But when the king heard 
thereof, he was wroth, and he sent forth his armies, and 
destroyed those murderers and burned up their city." The 
armies referred to were the Romans whom God used, as 
he had formerly used the Assyrians, whom he styles the 
"rod of his indignation," to overthrow the sinful kingdom. 
The Roman axe was laid at the root of the Jewish tree, 
until they had filled up the measure of their iniquities in 
rejecting and crucifying their king ; and now it was taken 
up and employed in the destruction of their national exist- 
ence. In the execution of this design, the capital of 
Judea was burned with fire, and the Jews dispersed and 
scattered among the nations. As a people they have been 
cast into the fire of the great tribulation which still con- 
tinues to burn. 

III. The calling of the Gentiles followed the 
rejection of the Jews. " Then saith he to his servants, 
the wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were 
not worthy ; go, ye therefore, into the highways and as 
many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage." Here we 
see an exigency occured in consequence of the unworthi- 
ness of the invited guests. The wedding was ready : but 
its celebration must now be postponed until another invi- 
tation be sent forth to furnish guests in place of those that 



KINGDOM GIVEN TO THE SAINTS. 137 

were first bidden and had refused to come. This signify- 
ing that the kingdom which was at hand, and ready to be 
revealed and established, if the Jews had obediently ful- 
filled its conditions, is now deferred until by the gospel 
dispensation, " he make ready a people prepared for the 
Lord*'' This second bidding represents the gospel min- 
istry, by which a full and free invitation is given to all 
people : and the immunities and blessedness of the king- 
dom is promised to all who believe in and obey our Lord 
Jesus Christ. This dispensation is called the " times of 
the Gentiles ," because they are admitted to be fellow 
heirs with the Jews of the grace of life. The Jews as 
individuals are as much entitled to the blessings of the 
gospel as the Gentiles, although for the time being they 
are, as a nation, rejected on account of their unbelief. And 
the nation to whom the kingdom taken from the carnal 
Jews will be given, consists of believers in Christ, both 
Jews and Gentiles. These Peter calls " a chosen genera- 
tion, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar peo- 
ple." 1 Pet. ii. 9. 

The design of the gospel dispensation is here shown. 
It is to furnish the wedding with guests ; or as James says 
in Acts. xv. 14, to take out of the Gentiles (as well as out 
of the Jews) a people for his name. It is not then a final, 
but preparatory dispensation. It will continue until its 
design is accomplished, and the guests be furnished for the 
marriage feast, i. e., until the number of God's elect be 
gathered in and qualified to be kings and priests in his 
kingdom. For this purpose the gospel must be preached 
in all the world, as a witness to all nations, and then shall 
the end come. 

IV. The kingdom shall be given to the saints, 

who being afore prepared unto glory, are styled " a nation 

bringing forth the fruits thereof.'''' We must not suppose 

that the promised kingdom is a mere " resting place, 

12* 



138 KINGDOM GIVEN TO THE SAINTS. 

where nothing more shall remain to active spirits, through 
eternity, but recollections of labor, anthems of praise, 
and inert repose." There is undoubtedly a correspon- 
dence between our training here, and our employment 
there. A great and important trust is to be committed to 
the saints, implied in their being made kings and priests 
unto God and reigning on the earth. " Do ye not know," 
says Paul, "that the saints shall judge the world," and 
again, " Know ye not that we shall judge angels." The 
future government of the world will be carried on by the 
saints, to whom God will give the kingdom under the 
whole heaven. They will be invested with great glory 
and power, and their character must be previously formed 
so that the wisdom of the investment may be apparent. 
For this end they are to add to faith, virtue, temperance, 
patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity. The 
author of the " Physical Theory of another Life, 11 says, 
"It would not be very difficult to show in what way, 
probably, every one of the active qualities, moral and 
intellectual, which are now in training, may come into 
exercise within a future system. All the practical skill 
we acquire in managing affairs, all the versatility, the 
sagacity, the calculation of chances, the patience and 
assiduity, the promptitude and facility, as well as the 
higher virtues, which we are learning every day, may 
well find scope in a world such as is rationally anticipated 
when we think of heaven as the stage of life, that is 
next to follow the discipline of earth." Hence it is that 
saints are now tried as gold in the fire, that they may be 
confirmed in holiness at the coming of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, and sanctified " unto himself a peculiar people 
zealous of good works" and fitted for the trust to be 
committed to them. 

It is not, perhaps, too much to say, that in selecting the 
Jewish nation, God chose the very best of all nations in 



MILLENNIUM. 139 

natural flesh, to make proof of the practicability of training 
and qualifying it for the kingdom of glory. And that they 
having failed to attainjo the necessary fitness, through the 
depravity of our nature and the corruption of their minds, 
he would not take the kingdom from them and offer it to 
any of the Gentile nations. This would not accord with 
the wisdom of the divine proceedings. It was necessary 
to try but one, and that the best ; and that failing, it would 
not answer any good purpose to try others. But God is 
by the moral power of the gospel, taking out of the 
nations a people for the glory of his name, who together 
with the faithful and obedient of former dispensations 
shall constitute a sacred nation, qualified for the glorious 
trust, and to whom he will in due time give " the kingdom 
and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the 
whole heaven.' ' 

It does not then appear that the gospel is intended or 
designed to convert all the world and thus introduce an 
evangelical Millennium of converted nations, as some sup- 
pose. There is no evidence for this in the disclosures of 
revelation. On the contrary, they expressly show that 
instead of the world being converted by the gospel, 
there would be a great falling away or apostacy from the 
truth, among the professed disciples of Christ ; and that 
many false teachers would arise, speaking perverse things, 
drawing away disciples after them ; and in the last days 
perilous times should come, in which the church would be 
defiled with men, having the form, but denying the power 
of godliness, and that the wickedness and irreligion of the 
world will be like it was in the days of Noah. Eighteen 
hundred years have confirmed the predictions of the pro- 
phets and apostles, and the present state of things indicates 
that we may now be living in the last days of this dispen- 
sation. The very fact that the nations of the earth are to 
be subject to Christ during the Millennium, proves that 



140 APPLICATION. 

the Millennium forms no part of the present dispensation, 
but must be altogether a new order of things, in which 
there will be an entire change of administration of affairs. 
Gospel warnings, exhortations, promises, &c, must all be 
applicable during the gospel dispensation ; but they would 
not be applicable in general during such a period as the 
Millennium is described to be ; and hence the gospel dis- 
pensation must end before the Millennium begins. The na- 
tions of the earth will, indeed, be subject to Christ during 
the Millennium. Then the heathen shall be his inherit- 
ance and the uttermost parts of the earth his possession. 
But this will be when Christ reigns in Zion and the 
saints shall be associated with him in the administration 
of his government. 

The number of the saints will be few in comparison with 
the rest of mankind, for many are called, but few are 
chosen — one of a city and two of a family. Alas! the 
great majority in all ages and countries are indifferent to 
these things. They live only for the present and neglect 
this great salvation. Still there will be a large number of 
redeemed and sanctified ones, who shall constitute the 
church of the first born, and attain to the glory and honor 
of the kingdom of Christ. 

Consider, then, my friends, the design of the gospel. It 
is to invite and prepare guests for the marriage feast — to 
call anp 1 sanctify you for the kingdom of God — to make 
you meet for the inheritance of the saints in light. What 
an exhibition of mercy ! Have you obeyed the call ? Do 
you believe in Christ ? Verily, I say unto you except 
you be born again you cannot see the kingdom of God. 
You must be regenerate. You must have on a wedding 
garment. If the unbelieving Jew could not be saved ; 
how can you be saved if you believe not ? If they were 
cut off for rejecting the offer of the kingdom, will you not 
share their fate if you reject the gospel? 



DISCOURSE THIRTEENTH. 



THE CHARACTER JU&D RELATIONS OF THE PRESENT 
TIME. 



And that knowing the time ("^cupov season) that now it is high 
time (topo, the hour) to awake out of sleep, for now is our salvation 
nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at 
hand : let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put 
on the armor of light. — Rom. xiii. 11, 12. 

It was probably when Jesus showed himself alive after 
his passion to above five hundred brethren at once, that 
the inquiry was made, " Lord wilt thou at this time 
(Xpovco) restore the kingdom to Israel ?" to which he re- 
plied, " It is not for you to know the times or the seasons 
(Xpcwovs *\ xcupouj) which the Father hath put in his own 
power." From which we learn that there are times and 
seasons spoken of in Scripture, that cannot be definitely 
known, because not revealed. The Father has reserved 
them in his own right. Among these is the second advent 
of Christ and events consequent thereon. All who have 
attempted to compute the time of that long expected and 
desirable event have signally failed, and all who attempt it 
in future must likewise fail : for Christ says " of that day 
and that hour knoweth no man, no not the angels of 
heaven, nor the son, but the Father." It is not only use- 
less, but pernicious to speculate on this subject. Where 
information is denied conjecture is vain. But there are 
times and seasons which we ought to know, the improve- 
ment of which is essential to our present happiness and 
future glory. And " a wise man's heart discerneth both 
time and judgment." Ecc. viii. 5. Ignorance here is 
perdition. For lack of knowledge the people perish, 
44 Yea, the stork in the heavens knoweth her appointed 

(tit) 



142 THE CHARACTER AND RELATIONS 

times ; and the turtle, the crane, and the swallow observe 
the time of their coming : but my people know not the 
judgment of the Lord." Jer. viii. 7. Hence the lamenta- 
tion in v. 20. " The harvest is past, the summer is ended, 
and we are not saved." 

The scribes and Pharisees required of Jesus " a sign 
from heaven," or properly " the sign from heaven," re- 
ferring to the prophecy of Daniel in which it was foretold 
that the Son of man should come in the clouds of heaven. 
But he reproved them for their lack of discernment, say- 
ing, " When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather, 
for the sky is red ; and in the morning, it will be foul 
weather to-day, for the sky is red and lowering. O ye 
hypocrites ! ye can discern the face of the sky : but can 
ye not discern the signs of the times? How is that ye 
discern not this time?" There were evidences enough in 
the works of Jesus to prove his Messiahship, but they 
willfully closed their eyes against the light. They over- 
looked the indications of the time then present, and under- 
stood not the obligations and duties belonging to it ; for 
their hearts had waxed gross, and their ears were dull of 
hearing, and their eyes they had closed, lest they should 
perceive the truth and be converted and saved. They 
foolishly rejected the testimony of miracles, and shut 
themselves up in unbelief, because the sign of a more ad- 
vanced stage of the Divine plan was not given. They 
understood not the Scriptures which taught that Christ 
must first suffer and afterwards enter into his glory. 
They knew not the time and understood not the nature 
of their visitation. And though Jesus appealed to his 
works as the proofs of his Messiahship, and corrected 
their mistake by saying, " Hereafter, (not now) ye shall 
see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, 
and coming in the clouds of heaven ;" yet the more nu- 
merous and stupendous the miracles he wrought and the 



OF THE PRESENT TIME. 143 

more faithfully and pointedly he warned them of their 
errors, the more obstinately and blindly they persisted in 
their unbelief and rejection of him, until the wrath came 
upon them to the uttermost. 

Now every age has its peculiar character and relations 
in its aspect to the eternal purpose of the Almighty, " that 
in the dispensation of the fulness of times, he might gather 
together in one all things in Christ, both which are in 
heaven, and which are on earth ;" and there are corres- 
ponding obligations and duties devolving upon those who 
live in every age, which it is important for them to under- 
stand and fulfil. Hence the necessity of attending to the 
signs of the times as indicated in the revelation of God to 
man. The present in its bearing upon and its relation to 
the future most intimately concerns us, and demands our 
attention. " Go," said the angel to the apostles, when he 
brought them out of prison, " stand and speak in the 
temple to the people all the words of this life." Acts v. 20. 

The language of the text is figurative. The figures are 
simple, beautiful and appropriate. There is the night 
(m&) in which men sleep : the season (xaipov) from dawn 
to sunrise, in which it may be said, the night is far spent, 
the day is at hand : the hour (wpa) denominated high 
time to awake out of sleep and prepare for the duties of 
the day : and the day (vj/iepa) characterized by the glorious 
luminary in whose refulgent beams all nature rejoices. 

The night represents the time from the fall of man to 
the second advent of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 
It is a time of sin and sorrow, affliction and trial ; a time 
in which deep shades of moral darkness overspread the 
earth, and gloomy clouds of wrath empty themselves on 
the guilty nations. Its history, like Ezekiel's roll,, is full 
of weeping, lamentation and wo. From the twilight of 
Eden's departed day of innocence, we observe the dark- 
ness growing darker still, until the earth was filled with 



144 THE CHARACTER AND RELATIONS 

violence, and sensualism overspread the world. Then 
came the billows of wrath and swept them away. But it 
was dark still, and superstition and idolatry generated in 
the moral shades, thus making " darkness visible," and 
enslaving the minds of the people in forms of spiritual 
despotism. 

But the night itself is not without stars and moon. And 
it pleased God to sanctify some in every age to himself 
as lights in a benighted world. Abel, Seth, Enoch, Noah, 
and others shone brilliantly in the firmament of the ante- 
diluvian age, and pointed out the pathway of life to a 
heedless world. " 0, it is beautiful," says one, " to wit- 
ness a truly godly character, shining in severe purity, in 
the midst of a dark and corrupt world." But as earth rolled 
on in the orbit of time these all, except one, set in death, 
that one was translated to a fairer sky. And Noah re- 
mained the last lone star of that age, and first to adorn 
the heavens of the succeeding dispensation. Then ap- 
peared Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and others, 
until at length, " apparent queen," the moon of the Jewish 
state, led on by Moses, a brilliant star of the age, arose 
and over the night "her silver mantle threw." Now 
in cresent form, and anon full orbed, then eclipsed, and 
finally, waning into darkness again, she passed through 
her various phases, and the night rolled on. The darkest 
time is said to be just before the break of day ; and 
verily the light was feeble and the darkness great just as 
the dawn — the Christian dispensation — began. 

The season, (xatpof) or dawn from break of day till 
sunrise, represents the gospel times, introduced by the first 
advent of Christ. As the dawn is the herald of the day, 
so this dispensation is the herald of the kingdom of 
Christ. During this season the kingdom of heaven is 
preached — its approach is proclaimed — its coming an- 
nounced, and the glad tidings conveyed to all people. 



OF THE PRESENT TIME. 145 

44 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all 
the world lor a witness to all nations, and then shall the 
end come." This is the time of the Gentiles. The 
people which sat ifirttarkness have seen great light, and 
to them which sit in the region of the shadow of death, 
light is sprung up. The Jewish moon still lingers in the 
far west above the horizon : but shorn of its beams. We 
turn our face to the glowing east and hail the dawn in 
joyful expectation of soon beholding the Sun of Righte- 
ousness arise on our world with healing in his wings. Our 
eyes watch for the day. The night is far spent — the day 
is at hand. 

The day, (rjntpa) represents the Millennium or the 
kingdom of Christ to be set up in the earth, called in 
Scripture, the great day of the Lord. In Luke x. 9-12, 
we read that Christ commanded his disciples to go and 
preach, saying, " The kingdom of God is come nigh unto 
you. But into whatever city you enter, and they receive 
you not, go your ways out into the streets of the same, 
and say, Even the dust of your city, which cleaveth on 
us, we do wipe off against you : notwithstanding, be ye 
sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto 
you. But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable 
in that day for Sodom than for that city.' , Here the term 
that day, evidently refers to the period styled the king- 
dom of God. This period is yet future seeing it is the 
time in which Sodom is to be judged. The dawn began 
with the first advent of Christ, and will be consummated at 
the second advent when he will introduce the Millennial 
day. We live in the dawn. The day spring from on 
high hath visited us, to guide our feet into the path of 
peace. 

Hence we see the character of this dispensation. It 
belongs to the night. The night is far spent, but not all 
spent. The day is at hand ; but not yet come. It belongs 
13 



146 THE CHARACTER AND RELATIONS 

'to the night; for the greater part of the earth is shrouded 
in the darkness of Paganism, Mahometanism, and Popery. 
The man of sin had to be revealed after the dawn began, 
and like a dark cloud has long obscured the glory of the 
morning : for Paul says, That day shall not come except 
there come a falling away first, and the man of sin be 
revealed, which is the son of perdition. Sectarianism, 
too, like a gloomy fog, capping the mountains, and filling 
the valleys, has darkened the habitations of man. The 
political state of the world is one of darkness. Fraud 
and oppression universally characterize earthly govern- 
ments. Iniquity occupies the seat of justice. God is 
forgotten and his laws trampled under foot. The moral 
condition of the earth is deplorably dark. Iniquity 
abounds. Every day brings intelligence of unsurpassed 
crime, now fearfully on the increase. The saints of God 
still sleep in the dust, and death hangs his gloomy pall 
over a world still groaning under the curse of sin. Surely 
it is still night ; although the light is greater than at any 
former period and in some respects different, as the dawn 
of day differs from the light of moon and stars, and is a 
stronger light than theirs. The light of former dispensa- 
tions was altogether prophetical and typical. But in the 
fulfilment of many of the prophecies we have demonstra- 
tion of the approach of the day of complete redemption. 
The dawn has come. Still the light is not perfect. Now, 
says Paul, we see through a glass darkly, but then face to 
face. But may we not say truly, the night is far spent, 
the day is at hand. The dawn bespeaks the coming day 
which will disperse the vapor and fog : the gospel dis- 
closes the approaching day of everlasting blessedness and 
glory, when that wicked one will be destroyed by the 
brightness of the Savior's coming, and sectarianism shall 
vanish away. 

This is emphatically the time of preparation. It is now 



OF THE PRESENT TIME. 147 

high time, the very hour (wpa) to wake out of sleep, for 
now is your salvation nearer than when you believed. 
How important the exhortation, Let us, therefore, cast off 
the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of 
light. Our behavior or deportment should correspond 
with the season or time. " Knowing the season.' 9 '' The 
Savior when weeping over Jerusalem in view of the deso- 
lations coming upon that city, said it was because she 
knew not the time of her visitation. And this is the time 
of our visitation in which God is taking out of the Gentiles 
a people for his name. To be ignorant of this is to be 
exposed to ruin. Let us then inquire, In what stage of 
night are we ? Is it in the times of ignorance which God 
winked at and when sin was not imputed ? Nay, verily. 
The night is far spent. We are in the precincts of the day. 
The gospel as a heavenly dawn illuminates our sky and 
sheds its light upon our path. Now God commands all 
men every where to repent. This is the first obligation 
imposed by the gospel. This is to awake out of sleep. 
Sleep is the emblem of sin. And to repent is to awake 
to righteousness. Therefore let us not sleep as do others, 
but awake early. We must not live as heathens in the 
very dawn of eternal glory. Awake thou that sleepest, and 
arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light 

But the lapse of time should quicken our Christian 
zeal ; for now is your salvation nearer than when you 
believed. What a thought is here ! The dawn will soon 
end, and give place to the day. It will not last forever. 
It has continued now above 1800 years. We must be 
near the close of this dispensation. We are approaching 
a crisis and we may live to see it. The day draws nigh. 
Let us notice some of the indications of its approach. 
What are the signs of the times 1 

In the xxiv. c. of Matthew the Savior gave his disciples 
a brief view of the time to elapse between his first and 



148 THE CHARACTER AND RELATIONS 

second advents, in its connection with the state and con- 
dition of the Jews, and their devoted city ; from which 
we learn that Jerusalem would be destroyed, and a long 
tribulation succeed such as they had never known from 
the origin of their nation to that time, and such as never 
again would take place: a tribulation defined in the pa- 
rallel passage in Luke, as consisting in great distress in the 
land, and wrath upon this people ; in their destruction by 
a most desolating war and dispersion as captives among 
all nations, and continuing until the times of the Gentiles 
be fulfilled. And then he says, " Immediately after the 
tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened and the 
moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from 
heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be shaken : and 
then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven : 
and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn when they 
shall see the sign of the Son of Man coming in the clouds 
of heaven with power and great glory." Matt. xxiv. 29, 
80. Now this series of events is nearly fulfilled. Jeru- 
salem was destroyed nearly 1800 years ago, and the Jews 
are still a dispersed people, and Jerusalem is yet trodden 
down of the Gentiles. In these times of political agita- 
tion, however, there are indications that ere long the Jews 
may obtain possession of their own land and the times of 
the Gentiles come to an end. The heart of the Jew 
begins to beat high in anticipation of his national redemp- 
tion, and the nations of Europe contemplate the event 
favorably. How soon it will take place God only knows. 
It is evidently drawing nigh and with it our salvation also 
draweth nigh. 

Paul in his second letter to the Thessalonians gives us a 
prophetical view of the lapse of this time in its relation to 
the state of the Church, admonishing the brethren not to 
be troubled with any apprehension that the day of Christ 
was then at hand, saying, " Let no man deceive you by 



OF THE PRESENT TIME. 149 

any means ; for that day shall not come except there come ' 
a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son 
of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all 
that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he as God 
sitteth in the temple of God ; showing himself that he is 
God. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work, 
only he who now hindereth will hinder until he be taken 
out of the way ; and then shall that wicked be revealed, 
whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his 
mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming." 
Here we find that previous to the coming of Christ a 
predicted apostacy should take place and an ecclesiastical 
power should rise usurping the prerogatives of the Al- 
mighty, occupying his place in the Church ; and continu- 
ing until the coming of Christ, but that towards the close of 
the time it would be consumed by the spirit of his mouth. 
The prophecy has had its fulfilment in the apostacy of the 
Roman Catholic church. " From the days of Constantine 
the corruption of the Christian profession proceeded with 
a rapid progress. Many evils, probably existed before 
this period, which prepared the way for the events which 
were to follow ; but when the influence of the secular 
power became an engine of the clergy to be exercised in 
their kingdom, it need not be a matter of surprise that the 
progress became exceedingly rapid in converting the religion 
of Christ into a system of spiritual tyranny, idolatry, super- 
stition, and hypocrisy, until it arrived at its full height in 
the Roman hierarchy, when what is called the church 
became the sink of iniquity," (Jones' Ch. His. p. 153.) 
The wicked or lawless one revealed out of this apostacy 
is the papal power which was observed by Daniel to rise 
up among the ten kingdoms of the Roman empire, as a 
little horn among the ten horns of the last beast, and dis- 
placed three of them. But this power must have an end, 
and after the Lord shall consume it by the spirit of his 

13* 



150 THE CHARACTER AND RELATIONS 

mouth, he will finally destroy it with the brightness of his 
coming. The word of God has gradually consumed the 
papacy ever since the Reformation, and events at present 
indicate that the end draweth nigh. Consequently the 
time of the Lord's coming is approaching; and the prac- 
tical influence of this truth should be felt by all. But, 
alas ! it is to be feared that many are in effect saying, 
" My Lord delay eth his coming" and are living in care- 
less ease and sinful indulgence, neglecting the preparation 
necessary to meet him at his appearing. They have 
fallen asleep again, and that day will come upon them 
unawares. But let me entreat you to shake off your 
carnal slumbers, and as a man throws off the covering of 
the night, when he awakes in the morning, and rising, 
girds himself with the clothing and the implements neces- 
sary for the business of the day ; so do you cast off the 
works of darkness, forsake the way of sin and folly, and 
gird on the armor or implements of light, and stand ready 
for the events of the day. Awake, O careless soul, nor 
indulge in the false hope of security while you slumber 
on in the embrace of the world. Your dreams of worldly 
glory and joy will soon end. The treasures you are 
heaping together will perish with you. Pleasure lulls you 
in her lap to rest, but ah ! it is death to slumber there. 

But there are some who are awake. Some who still 
continue at their posts. Some who are looking for the 
blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our Lord and 
Savior Jesus Christ. To you, I say, be steadfast. Sleep 
not as do others, but watch, and be sober. Go straight 
forward in the discharge of your duty and labor to save 
yourselves and others. You will not regret in that day 
that you were constant and regular in your attendance at 
church : that you were faithful in sustaining by your 
prayers and your means its spiritual and temporal in- 
terests. You will then obtain a rich and full reward for 



OF THE PRESENT TIME. 151 

all your work and labor of love, which you have showed 
towards the cause of Christ. You will feel it to be a rich 
reward for all self-denial, patient toil, and suffering, when 
Jesus shall say to you, " Well done good and faithful ser- 
vant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." Then forsake 
not the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of 
some is. Alas ! it is the manner of many. Their love 
has grown cold amid the aboundings of iniquity. They 
neither assemble with the people of God, nor contribute 
to the support of his cause. They eat and drink with the 
drunken. Self-gratification and worldly gain are their 
leading motives. Imitate them not. Their example is 
pernicious ; their end is destruction. Be warned. Keep 
awake, and try to wake up all around you. And exhort 
one another daily, and so much the more, as ye see the 
day approaching. We cannot tell the precise time of the 
Lord's coming; but we see the indications of its approach 
in the fulfilment of prophecy, and the political and religi- 
ous state of the world. Let us be more alert and guard 
against the delusions of that Siren which saith, " My 
Lord delayeth his coming." Blessed is that servant whom 
the Lord, when he comes, shall find at his post. 



DISCOURSE FOURTEENTH. 



THE FIRST STAGE OF THE SECOND ADVENT— SIXTH 
VIAL PERIOD— COMING OF CHRIST— FIRST STAGE- 
MANNER— DESIGN— EFFECTS— HARVEST— WARN- 
ING. 



Behold I come as a thief! Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth 
his garments ; lest he walk naked and they see his shame. 

Rev. xvi. 15. 

The first advent of Christ includes the time from his 
incarnation to his ascension, and comprises all the events 
connected with his appearing to put away sin by the 
sacrifice of himself. His nativity in Bethlehem, his pre- 
sentation in the temple — his baptism at Jordan — his 
temptation in the wilderness — his public ministry — his 
transfiguration on Tabor — -his agony in Gethsemane — his 
crucifixion on Calvary — his resurrection from the dead, 
and his ascension from Olivet, all belong to the period 
called the first advent ; although strictly speaking, his 
nativity may be designated by that term. In like manner, 
the second advent, although generally understood to im- 
port his return to the earth, is used to signify the whole 
period of his reign, from his coming until the consummation 
of mediation, and comprehends the resurrection and re- 
ward of his saints — his manifestation to the world — the set- 
ting up of his kingdom — the restoration of Israel — the sub- 
jection of the nations — the last rebellion — the resurrection 
of the rest of the dead, and the subjection and reconcilia- 
tion of all things unto God. We purpose now to con- 
sider the first or primary stage of the second advent, to 
which the words of our selection refer, " Behold, I come 
as a thief ! &c." 

This passage of Scripture is remarkable for the con nee- 

(152) 



SIXTH VIAL PERIOD. 153 

tion in which it stands. It appears to be introduced as a 
note of warning to the people of God in the midst of the 
last grand political movement of the age, prophetically 
described as the gathering together of the kings of the 
earth, and of the whole world, to the battle of that great 
day of God Almighty. In this book, called the Revela- 
tion of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, is made 
known to the Church, the events of this dispensation, 
from the apostolic times until the second advent, by the 
successive opening of seven seals, the. sounding of seven 
trumpets, and the pouring out of seven vials. Most of the 
events thus symbolized and foreshown have undoubtedly 
been fulfilled, and the close of this dispensation is rapidly 
approaching. Without presuming positively to determine 
the agencies and events represented by the symbols of the 
sixth vial period, we deem it in place to offer a few re- 
marks thereon, by way of explaining the force and bear- 
ing of the passage under consideration. John says, 
" And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great 
river Euphrates : and the water thereof, was dried up, 
that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared." 
There seems to be here an allusion to the exhaustion of 
the Euphrates, above Babylon, by the Medo-Persian forces 
under Cyrus, which leaving the channel dry, prepared the 
way for the conquest of the city, by that eastern monarch. 
And as Babylon is used in this book as a symbol of the 
nationalized apostate churches, or Roman Catholic Hier- 
archy, the mother of all similar apostate churches, whose 
seat is Rome, and which is sustained and supported by 
the civil rulers, in their assumption of divine prerogatives 
and dominion over the faith and practice of the people, 
who are as a natural stream of population, constantly 
flowing into her : so the drying up of the water may re- 
present the alienation and withdrawal of the people from 
her, preparatory to her final overthrow and destruction, 



154 SIXTH VIAL PERIOD. 

when Christ and his saints, represented by the kings of 
the east, shall come and take the kingdom and possess it 
forever. Admitting that we have interpreted the symbols 
aright, then the prophecy has been for some years in pro- 
gress of fulfilment. And if the Euphrates symbolizes the 
population of the Turkish Empire, as some suppose, and 
the drying up of the waters, the wasting or exhaustion of 
the same, to make way for the restoration of the Jews, 
the events predicted have been in progress of fulfilment 
a number of years. John adds, " And I saw three un- 
clean spirits like frogs, out of the mouth of the dragon, 
and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth 
of the false prophet, (for they are spirits of devils (demons) 
working miracles,) go forth unto the kings of the earth, 
and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of 
the great day of God Almighty." As we must now be 
living in an advanced stage of the sixth vial period, we 
may expect to see some indications of the secret workings 
of these unclean spirits. The battle of that great day of 
God Almighty, is described in chap. xix. 11-22., and is 
evidently the same as that predicted in Ezek. xxxviii., and 
Zech. xiv., inasmuch as in all three places, the Lord is 
represented as making his personal appearance at that 
time, and he is not to appear three times, but only once. 
Therefore, this gathering will not take place until after the 
restoration of the Jews, who are then to be a nation again 
upon the mountains of Israel. But as the tide, after its 
ebb, returns at first by almost imperceptible degrees, creep- 
ing upon the shore, so the reflux of the Jews to Palestine 
has already commenced, and is now progressing, with a 
slow, and almost unnoticed, but, like the tide, with sure 
and steady pace. The powers denoted by the dragon, 
the beast, and the false prophet, are not altogether uncon- 
cerned spectators of this movement, even in its incipient 
stage. The demon-like spirits may be regarded as already 



COMING OF CHRIST. 155 

at work in the hearts of the powers from which they shall 
soon emanate ; and whenever the increase of Jews in 
Palestine shall become sufficiently great to alarm their 
fears ; efforts will T^T put forth to combine their forces 
against them. The nationality of the Jews, for which 
their return is now preparing the way, will probably be 
effected in less than twenty years, and as the times of the 
Gentiles will then terminate, and the first resurrection take 
place, Jesus introduces this note of warning, (at the very 
time when the unclean spirits go forth to the kings of the 
whole habitable earth,) to apprise his church of his coming. 
" Behold, I come as a thief!" &c. The coming of Christ 
here spoken of is the first stage of his advent, and will 
take place immediately after the going forth of the unclean 
spirits, and sometime before the combined powers shall be 
gathered together, through their instrumentality. Some 
expositors have supposed that this passage was out of 
place : but I trust it will be seen that it is wisely and 
graciously introduced at this stage of the sixth vial period. 
The common theory of the second advent is that it will 
be a sudden, visible, glorious manifestation of Christ to the 
world, attended by the blast of a great trumpet, which 
shall wake the dead : that the saints then living will be 
changed, and the dead raised and caught up in a moment 
to meet him, and placed on his right hand ; and then im- 
mediately afterwards the unrighteous dead will be raised, 
and with the wicked, then living, be compelled to stand 
before him, on his left hand. The judgment will then 
take place in which the judge will sentence the wicked to 
everlasting perdition, and reward the righteous with ever- 
lasting life. The wicked will then be driven to hell ; the 
righteous taken to heaven, and the earth burnt up and 
destroyed in a general conflagration. On this theory the 
Millennium must precede the advent, which in that case 
would be more than a thousand years off. The Millerites 



156 FIRST STAGE. 

have pretty much the same view, except that they sup- 
pose the wicked are to be burnt up with the earth, at the 
coming of Christ, which they hold to be nigh at hand, 
and the Millennium will be a thousand years of glory 
and blessedness to be enjoyed by the saints on earth after 
the conflagration. And that the rest of the dead, as well 
as those consumed by the conflagration, will not be raised 
until the termination of the thousand years, when they 
will be judged and consigned to everlasting perdition. 
Many will no doubt think it strange that we call in ques- 
tion the correctness of these notions ; aye, that we utterly 
repudiate them as altogether erroneous, being not only 
unwarranted by the word of God, but as directly pervert- 
ing and contradicting that infallible criterion of truth. 

We have already shown, in our former discourses, that 
the kingdom of Christ or the Millennium will be another 
and far better Mediatorial Dispensation, in which Christ 
and his Saints will reign personally on this earth : of 
course it must be preceded by the second advent of Christ 
and the resurrection and change of his saints. But the 
second advent of Christ will consist of two main stages 
or progressive steps ; as we find from 1 Thes. iv. 13-17. 
where Paul says, " I would not have you to be ignorant 
brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sor- 
row not even as others which have no hope ; for if we 
believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also 
which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him." Here 
we learn that when Christ comes in his glory to reign on 
the earth, his saints are to come along with him ; and this 
necessarily supposes that they must have been previously 
raised and taken out of the world ; for if they were still 
asleep or dead, and remaining on the earth they could not 
come with him at his appearing. The apostle next 
proceeds to show how it would be. " For this we say 
unto you, by the word of the Lord, that we which are 



FIRST STAGE. 157 

alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not 
prevent (hinder, or go before,) them which are asleep. 
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a 
shout, with the voiee^of the archangel, and the trump of 
God : and the dead in Christ shall rise first ; then we 
which are alive and remain shall be caught up together 
with them to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we be 
ever with the Lord." This informs us how the saints 
will be taken up to meet the Lord in the air ; so that 
" when he shall appear, they may also appear with him 
in glory." And hence we find that our Lord will first 
come from heaven to the air. This is the first stage of 
the advent, and the second will be from the air to the 
earth. To the first stage our text applies, " Behold, I 
come as a thief !" &c. For Paul proceeds in the next 
chapter to show that it will be so. " But the of times and 
seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. 
For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so 
eometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, 
peace and safety, then sudden destruction eometh upon 
them, and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are 
not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a 
thief." 1 Thes. v. 1-4. It is not to the saints, that that 
day eometh as a thief; but to the world, and to careless, 
and hypocritical professors it shall come as a thief. Hence 
Christ said, " If, therefore, thou wilt not watch, I will 
come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know, what 
hour I will come upon thee." Rev. iii. 3. The coining 
will be at an unexpected time. The world will not be 
looking for it. Full of ambitious schemes and immersed 
in worldly cares they will practically say, " Where is the 
promise of his coming?" for since the fathers fell asleep, 
all things continue as they were from the beginning of the 
creation." The careless and hypocritical professors will 
14 



158 MANNER. 

not be looking for it. The language of their lives is, 
" My Lord delayeth his coming." But the saints of God 
will be " looking for and hasting unto the coming of the 
day of the Lord." It will be an expected event to them. 
They w T ait for the Lord, their soul doth wait and in his 
word do they hope. They wait for the Lord, more than 
they that watch for the morning, yea, more than they 
that watch for the morning. 

But more particularly ; a thief comes not only at an 
unexpected time but also in an unobserved manner, con- 
cealing his approach under cover of night. So Christ 
will come unobserved by the world. His descent from 
the throne of glory to the air will not be seen by them. 

He will not then manifest himself to the world ; but he 
will manifest himself to his saints. And there is an inti- 
mation of this in John xiv. 22, 23. " Judas, (not Iscariot) 
saith unto him, Lord how is it that thou wilt manifest thy- 
self unto us, and not unto the world ? Jesus answered and 
said unto him, "If a man love me, he will keep my words : 
and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him 
and make our abode with him." These words have gen- 
erally been applied to a spiritual manifestation ; l»ut it is a 
manifestation to such as are spiritual, who love Christ and 
keep his words. And it is evident that Judas was led to 
ask the question by what Christ had said, v. 19. " Yet a 
little while, and the world seeth me no more ; but ye see 
me; because I live, ye shall live also," and then he adds, 
"At that day, ye shall know that I am in my Father, and 
ye in me, and I in you." verse 20. Here Christ speaks 
of future life, and of the day of his coming, and more par- 
ticularly of the stage of his coming, when his saints shall 
be raised and changed, and caught up to meet him in the 
air ; when they shall see him as he is, and be made like 
him ; and shall know, even as they are known. What a 
glorious manifestation ! yet it will be invisible to the 



DESIGN. 159 

world. It will come upon them as a thief, while they 
slumber on in worldly security. 

But a thief comes to take away something : and Christ 
comes to take his Ifaints out of the world. He will not 
leave one of them behind. All the righteous dead, from 
Abel the first martyr to the last and yet unburied one, 
that shall fall asleep in Jesus shall be taken. And all 
true believers who may then be alive and remain shall be 
taken. For Paul says, " Behold, I show you a mystery, 
we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a 
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump 
(for the trumpet shall sound) and the dead (saints) shall 
be raised incorruptible, and we, (the living saints,) shall 
be changed." 1 Cor. xv. 51, 52. Then both the dead 
and the living being raised and changed in an instant, shall 
be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air. In 
relation to this same event Christ also said, ' ; I tell you 
in that night, there shall be two in one bed, the one (i. e. 
the Christian,) shall be taken, and the other, (i. e. the un- 
believer,) left. Two shall be grinding together at the mill ; 
the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two shall be in 
the field ; the one shall be taken, and the other left." And 
they said, " Where Lord ?" And he said, " Where the 
body is, there will the eagles be gathered together." So 
where Christ is, when he comes in the air, there also 
will his saints be gathered together. 

It is possible that this first stage of the advent may be 
attended with a loud noise as of thunder which is called 
the voice of the Lord. But whatever may be intended by 
the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, it does 
not follow that any except the saints will hear it : as it 
appears to be designed for them alone. But as a house- 
holder, when he rises in the morning, and finds that his 
house has been broken into, and that his goods are taken, 
knows that the thief has come ; so the world will know 



'160 EFFECTS. 

after the saints are taken out of it, that the Lord has come 
to the air, where the saints are to meet him. And this 
appears to be what is meant by the sign of the Son of 
man in heaven, which sign is to precede his coming to the 
earth in great power and glory : for the saints being taken 
out of the world, will be a sure sign that Jesus has now 
come to the region of the air, and of course is in the air, 
which is frequently termed heaven. 

" Behold I come as a thief! Blessed is he that watch- 
eth, and keepeth his garment, lest he walk naked and they 
see his shame." "Here," says Clarke, "is a plain allu- 
sion, to the office of him, who was called the prefect, or 
overseer of the mountain of the temple. His custom was 
to go his rounds during the watches of the night, and if 
he found ojie of the Levites sleeping on his watch, he had 
authority to beat him with a stick, and burn his vestments. 
Such. .a person, being found on his return home naked, it 
was at once known that he had been found asleep at his 
post, had been beaten, and had his clothes burnt. Thus 
his shame was seen ; he was reproached for his infidelity 
and irreligion." Just so will it be with the unfaithful, 
careless, nominal, worldly, and hypocritical professors of 
religion in the day of the Lord's coming. They will be 
found sleeping at their post, and acting out the saying, " My 
Lord delayeth his coming." When the true, faithful, and 
vigilant believers shall be raised, changed and caught up to 
meet their Lord, these shall be left behind. Thus they 
will be stript of their guise, and their hypocrisy and irreli- 
gion exposed to the world. The flames shall consume their 
robes, an.d they shall walk naked ; for it will be seen that 
they were not true Christians, else they would have been 
changed and taken out of the earth. If Christ were now 
to come as a thief, to take his saints out of the world, I 
fear that great numbers, in all the churches, would be left 
behind. And while from their tombs, all true believers 



HARVEST. 161 

would come forth at his call, how many would still re- 
main in the congregation of the dead, who have once pro- 
fessed the name of Jesus. 

But " blessed is~~he that watcheth, and keepeth his gar- 
ments." The faithful shall have part in the first resur- 
rection : they shall be changed and ascend to meet their 
coming Lord. They shall escape the things that are 
coming on the earth, and stand before the Son of man. 
Hence Christ says, " Let your loins be girded about, and 
your lights burning, and yourselves like unto men, that 
wait for their Lord, when he shall return from the wed- 
ding ; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open 
to him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom 
the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching." And 
Paul says, "But let us who are of the day be sober, putting 
on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a hemlet, the 
hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to 
wrath but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 
who died for us, that whether we wake, or sleep, (i. e., 
be dead or alive at the time of his coming,) we should 
live together with him. 

" happy servant he, 

In such a posture found, 
He shall the king of glory see, 
And be with honor crowned." 

To this period we refer, Rev. xiv. 13-16. " And 1 heard 
a voice, from heaven, saying unto me, Write, blessed are 
the dead, that die in the Lord, from henceforth ; yea, saith 
the spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their 
works do follow them. And I looked and behold a white 
cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of 
man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand 
a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the tem- 
ple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, 
14* 



162 WARNING. 

Thrust in thy sickle and reap ; for the time is come for 
thee to reap ; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And 
he that sat on the cloud, thrust in his sickle on the earth, 
and the earth was reaped." The harvest of the earth, 
is the Church of God ; and its being ripe denotes that the 
number of the elect saints is complete ; the time to reap 
is the end of the age, and the reaper is the Lord Jesus 
Christ, who shall reap his harvest of redeemed ones, and 
gather them together to himself, when he comes in the 
first stage of his advent to the air, where he is repre- 
sented as seated on a white cloud. And truly from thence- 
forth, shall the dead, who die in the Lord, be blessed, 
together with those- who shall be alive at his coming when 
they shall be changed and fashioned in his likeness, and 
shall be forever with him. 

Now, as I said before, we are living in the sixth vial 
period, during which there will be a return of the Jews to 
Palestine, and the indications of a political combination 
against them, and that as soon as the Jews shall obtain 
possession of their own land, and declare their nationality 
again ; an event which we think may take place within 
twenty years, (God knoweth,) then shall the first stage of 
the second advent take place. Let us take heed to the 
warning, "Behold I come as a thief!" This is the next 
event to be expected. We live in the last days of this 
dispensation. Wickedness is on the increase. Infidelity 
waxes bold ; and scoffers say, " Where is the promise of 
his coming?" The mistakes which have been made in 
computing prophetic time, and the failures which have 
consequently followed, have caused a general disregard to 
this important subject, and emboldened scoffers. But 
notwithstanding those mistakes and failures, which God 
may have permitted to try our faith, in the promise of his 
coming, it is most certain that the day of the Lord draw- 
eth nigh. It is near even at the door — it hasteth greatly. 



WARNING. 163 

" For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, 
who left his house, and gave authority to his servants and 
to every man his work, and commanded the porter to 
watch. Watch yev therefore, for ye know not when the 
master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at 
cock crowing, or in the morning : Lest, coming suddenly, 
he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you, I say 
unto all, watch." Mark xiii. 34-37. 

LINES ON ZECHARIAH, i. 5. 

BY W. P. KENNEDY. 

The ancient days were days of might, 

In forms of greatness moulded, 
And flowers of heaven grew on the earth, 

Within the church unfolded; 
For grace fell fast as summer dew, 
And saints to giants' stature grew. 

But one by one the gifts are gone, 

That in the church resided, 
And gone the spirits living light, 

That on her walls abided, 
When by our shrines he came to dwell, 
In power and presence visible. 

A blight hath passed upon the church, 

Her summer hath departed ; 
The chill of age is on her sons — 

The cold and fearful hearted, 
And sad amid, neglect and scorn, 
Our mother sits, and weeps alone. 

Narrower and narrower still each year, 

The holy circle groweth, 
And what the end of all shall be, 

Nor man nor angel knoweth ; 
And so we wait and watch in fear, 
It may be that the Lord is near. 



DISCOURSE FIFTEENTH. 

THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 

And the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive 
and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to 
meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 

1 Thes. iv. 16, 17. 

It is a point in Christian Theology, " that there shall 
be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and also of 
the unjust." Acts xxiv. 15. This is secured to man, by 
our Lord Jesus Christ, in his official capacity, as the 
second Adam ; for, since by man came death, by man 
came also the resurrection of the dead ; for, as in Adam, 
all die, even so in Christ, shall all be made alive." 1 Cor. 
xv. 21, 22. Death is the penalty of transgression, and 
comes upon all by the official disobedience of the first 
Adam. Life is the gift of God, secured to all by the offi- 
cial obedience of the second Adam. In Adam the first, 
all sinned, and all must die ; but Christ obeyed for all, 
and all shall live again. Death came to all by Adam's 
sin ; and life to all by Christ's obedience. The doctrine 
of the resurrection of the dead, is taught in Scripture, and 
confirmed by the resurrection of Christ himself, who died 
for us r and rose again. It is purely a doctrine of revela- 
tion, to be received by faith, and is not deducible from 
physical laws. And to the objector we would say, in the 
language of Paul to Agrippa, " Why should it be thought 
a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the 
dead ?■" Acts xxvi. 8. Cannot He, who made man's body 
at first, by the same power raise it again from the dust ? 
Without doubt he is able to do so, and we dare not ques- 
tion the veracity of his word, wherein he assures us that 
he will. We deem any attempt to prove this doctrine, 

(164) 



THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 165 

unnecessary, and shall proceed at once to treat of the sub- 
ject of our selection ; praying for a divine unction to 
attend the truth to every heart and mind. 

In John v. 28r29. The faithful and true witness says, 
" Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming in the which all 
that are in their graves, shall hear his voice and shall come 
forth ; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of 
life ; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection 
of damnation." Here we learn, that all the dead must be 
raised, whe-ther they are good or bad ; but there will be a 
distinction between them that have done good, and them 
that have done evil. The question to engage our attention 
now, is whether that distinction has any relation to time 1 
Whether, as some, maintain, all the dead, good and bad, 
shall be raised at once, though it may be in two distinct 
ranks? or whether the saints will be raised at least a 
thousand years before the rest of the dead ? Those who 
maintain the former, lay much stress upon the term 
" hour," in which all are to come forth, as if it signified 
merely a few minutes of time. But upa {hour) is used in 
Scripture to denote periods of different duration, as in 
John v. 36. " He was a burning and a shining light ; 
and ye were willing for a season (<opa hour) to rejoice in 
his light." Here it means the period of John the Bap- 
tist's ministry. And in 1 John ii. 18, it signifies the 
whole Christian dispensation. " Little children it is the 
last time (upa hour,) and as ye have heard that Anti-christ 
shall come, even now there are many Anti-christs, whereby 
we know that it is the last time. (<opa hour)" But the 
Christian dispensation has already continued upwards of 
eighteen hundred years, so that the term hour may cover 
a period quite as long as we contend for : and the lan- 
guage of Christ simply declares, that a time is coming in 
which all the dead shall be raised ; but it does not deter- 
mine the length of the time ; nor at what stage of it the 



166, THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 

good shall come forth to the resurrection of life, or the 
evil to the resurrection of condemnation. And I know of 
no passage of Scripture which teaches that they shall all 
be raised at once, while there are many which prove that 
they shall not be raised at once ; but that a considerable 
period will elapse after the resurrection of the just, before 
the rest of the dead shall live again. 

Our text asserts that " the dead in Christ shall rise 
first" By the dead in Christ are meant the saints, who 
" die in the Lord-" and who in verse 14, are said to sleep 
in Jesus ; and are thus distinguished from such as die in 
their sins. Their rising first, either means that they 
will rise before the living saints are changed, or that they 
will rise before the other dead. It cannot mean the former, 
for Paul shows that the dead in Christ shall be raised and 
the living in Christ shall be changed, at the same moment 
of time, even in the twinkling of an eye. ."Behold, I 
show you a mystery, we shall not all sleep, but we shall 
all be changed in the twinkling of an eye, at the last 
trump ; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead (righte- 
ous dead,) shall be raised incorruptible, and we, (the 
righteous living) shall be changed." 1 Cor. xv. 51, 52. 
And both the raised and the changed, are then to be 
caught up together, to meet the Lord in the air. Their 
rising first, must then, without doubt, signify a precedence 
over the rest of the dead in the order of time. But this 
would be of little importance, if it were only in a differ- 
ent rank or file, as some explain it, a few minutes before 
the other dead. Its great consequence arises from its re- 
lation to that state of surpassing glory and blessedness, in 
the kingdom of Christ, which belongs to those who have 
part in the first resurrection. The apostle, had no doubt, 
preached the coming and kingdom of Christ to the Thessa- 
lonians, as appears from his epistles : but it seems they 
did not fully comprehend his doctrine concerning the par- 



THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 167 

ticipation of the saints in that glorious reign. They had 
taken up the idea, that only those who should be alive, 
and remain on the earth at the time of his coming, would 
enjoy that blessed and glorious state ; and hence they 
mourned for the dead saints, as though they would be 
excluded from it. Hence, Paul wrote to them, to correct 
their error, saying, " I would not have you to be ignorant, 
brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sor- 
row not even as others which have no hope ; for if we 
believe that Jesus died and rose again ; even so them also 
which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him," verses 
13, 14. He then proceeds to show the preliminary steps by 
which the saints, both living and dead, will, at the time of 
of his coming be prepared to participate in the glorious 
appearing and kingdom of the Son of man. He assures 
them that at the last trump, the dead in Christ shall rise 
first, i. e., before the other dead, concerning whom there 
is no hope of their having part or lot in the matter. And 
that at the same moment, in which the dead in Christ 
shall be raised, the living saints who remain on earth will 
be changed and made immortal ; and all being caught up 
together to meet the Lord in the air, they shall be pre- 
pared to come with him when he comes from the air to 
the earth. The doctrine of this passage, is that the saints 
of God, whether they be dead or alive shall be raised 
or changed at the close of this dispensation, and prior to 
the appearing and kingdom of Christ; and thus be quali- 
fied to appear when he appears in his glory, and to reign 
with him in his kingdom. And as the other dead will not 
participate in the glory and honor of the Millennial reign, 
they will not be raised until afterwards. The resurrection 
of the saints will, therefore, be first, and will precede that 
of the other dead, by at least one thousand years. There- 
fore the Psalmist says, "The ungodly shall not stand 



168 THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 

(rise up) in judgment ; nor sinners in the congregation 
of the righteous ones." Psl. i. 5. 

The same truth is taught in 1 Cor. xv. 22, 23. " For 
as in Adam all die ; even so in Christ shall all be made 
alive. But every man in his own order. Christ the first 
fruits; afterwards they that are in Christ at his coming." 
Here the apostle speaks of the resurrection of Christ's 
only, i. e., of the dead in Christ. And the time of their 
rising, is to be at his coming. The others are not to 
be raised at that time: for, "the man that wandereth 
out of the way of understanding, shall remain in the 
congregation of the dead ones." Prov. xxi. 16. And 
Isaiah in speaking of the day of Israel's glory, says of 
the wicked, " They are dead, they shall not live ; they are 
deceased, they shall not rise. Therefore, hast thou visited 
and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish." 
But of the Lord's people he says, " Thy dead shall live, 
with my dead body shall they arise. Awake, and sing, 
ye that dwell in dust ; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, 
and the earth shall cast out the dead." Isa. xxvi. 14 and 
19. These passages show that the wicked shall not rise 
with the saints ; but they shall rise at a subsequent period 
referred to by the apostle as the end, or last order of the 
resurrection, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom 
to God, even the Father ; when all false rule or authority 
is put down, and death itself, the last enemy, destroyed. 
See 1 Cor. xv. 24-26. 

But this doctrine is still more definitely stated in Rev. 
xx. 4-6. " And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them ; 
and judgment was given unto them; even the souls of 
them that were beheaded, for the witness of Jesus, and for 
the word of God, and which had not worshipped the 
beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark 
upon their foreheads, or in their hands ; and they lived 
and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest 



THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 169 

of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were 
finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy- 
is he that hath part in the first resurrection ; on such the 
second death hath ITcTpower, but they shall be priests of 
God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand 
years." This vision relates to the Millennial reign, and 
corresponds with that of Dan. vii. 22, who beheld when 
" Judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and 
the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom ;'* 
for who were they that sat upon the thrones and to whom 
judgment was given ? " John says, " Even the souls of 
them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus," &c, 
who are certainly the saints of the Most High. I have in 
this passage of Scripture omitted the words, "7 saw,'* 
which were supplied by the translators, and have rendered 
Kai, even, for which there is good authority, making the 
following words descriptive of those who sat upon the 
thrones, and reigned with Christ. The term souls here, 
has occasioned some to err, in consequence of not observ- 
ing its Scriptural use. The common theory is that the 
soul is the spiritual part of man, an immaterial subsistence 
distinct from the body ; but though this has long been the 
theological idea, it is not the Scriptural ideapyof the term 
soul. In Scripture it is employed to denote the mode of 
existence consequent upon the union of the body and 
spirit, and in its application to human beings, includes the 
idea of personality, so that in many places it might be 
rendered person, and in others life, with special reference 
to our present mode of existence, or our resurrection 
state. " And the Lord God formed man out of the dust 
of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of 
life, (the spirit,) and man became a living soul." Gen. ii. 
7. Here it evidently means mode of existence consequent 
upon the union of body and spirit, and might be rendered 
a" living person. 11 Prof. Bush says, "The term soul 
15 



170 THE FIRST RESURRECTION, 

actually implies in sacred usage all that constitutes the 
essential person,' * and " the word ^vxn (soul) is strictly- 
applicable to the principle of vitality as connected with 
animal organization." Death is a destruction of this mode 
of being, hence it is said, " The soul that sinneth, it 
shall die. And he that dies is said to lose his soul. 
The resurrection is a restoration of this mode of be- 
ing and he that is raised from the dead, again becomes 
a living soul, or is said to find his soul. Thus Christ 
said, "If any man will come after me, let him deny 
himself, and take up his cross and follow me. For whoso- 
ever will save his soul, (4^) shall lose it; and whosoever 
will lose his soul, (^>vz*i) for my sake, shall find it. For what 
is man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose 
his own soul? For the Son of man shall come in the 
glory of his Father, with his angels, and then he shall 
reward every man according to his works." Matt. xvi. 
24-27. Here we see that the term refers to that mode 
of existence, which may be lost by death, and found 
again in the resurrection. And we learn that he that 
denies Christ for any temporal advantage, even his very 
existence here, shall not only lose it ere long by death, 
but also forfeit his part in the first resurrection, and lose it 
then ; for his name shall be blotted out of the book of 
life. On the other hand, he who confesses Christ here, 
at the loss of all temporal things, even his very existence, 
by suffering martyrdom for Christ's sake, shall have 
part in the first resurrection and hence find his soul again, 
in that day, when the Son of man comes to give reward 
unto his servants, and to all that fear his name, both small 
and great. And, indeed, what would it profit a man if he 
could gain the whole world now, which he must soon 
leave, and as a consequence lose his part in the first resur- 
rection, and forfeit all title to the glorious and everlasting 
inheritance of the saints in light? for if that be lost, 



THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 171 

nothing can be given in exchange for it; it is irrecoverably- 
lost. In Rev. vi. 9, 10, John says, "I saw under the 
altar the soul of them that were slain for the word of God, 
and for the testimony which they held, and they cried 
with a loud voice, saying, How long, 0, Lord, holy and 
true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them 
that dwell on the earth." Here the souls under the altar 
represent the persons of the martyrs who were slain on 
account of their religion, and who, relying on the sacrifice 
of Christ for eternal life, anticipated their resurrection from 
the dead and an eternal reward in his kingdom. And they 
inquire, how long it will be ere the wicked shall be de- 
stroyed out of the earth, and the promised inheritance given 
to the saints of God. " And white robes were given unto 
every one of them, and it was said unto them, that they 
should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow-ser- 
vants also, and their brethren, that should be killed as 
they were, should be fulfilled." v. 11. As white robes 
symbolize the righteousness of the saints ; this vision 
imports that their innocency and rectitude would be vin- 
dicated, and after a further period of rest to them, but 
persecution to the saints living on earth, the great object 
of their desire and expectation would be granted. And 
these same souls, as well as all others redeemed from 
among men, are again seen by John in his vision, Rev. 
xx. 4, as living again and reigning with Christ. Some 
suppose that none but the martyrs will have part in the 
first resurrection ; but it is evident that all the saints are to 
have part in it ; since it is not only those who were be- 
headed or slain for the witness of Jesus and the word of 
God, but also those who had " not worshipped the beast, 
neither his image, neither had received his mark upon 
their foreheads, nor in their hands." And this embraces 
all true believers, who worship God in sincerity, rejoice 
in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh. And 



172 THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 

the Scriptures plainly declare that all the saints shall be 
with Christ when he comes in his glory, and consequently 
all must be previously raised and changed, and caught up 
together to meet him in the air, that they may come with 
him. And this resurrection will be at least one thousand 
years prior to the resurrection of the rest of the dead ; for 
they lived not again until the thousand years were ended. 
The first resurrection, with its consequent glory and 
blessedness, has been an object of the faith and hope of 
the saints in all ages. To this period they looked for the 
fulfilment of the promises. In this the Woman's Seed 
would consummate his triumph over the serpent by bruis- 
ing his head, and finally destroying "him that hath the 
power of death, which is the Devil." In our Lord's re- 
ply to the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection, we 
find that this constituted the gist of the Abrahamic Cove- 
nant. For the pledge of God, to fulfil that covenant to 
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, after they were dead, neces- 
sarily included their resurrection from the dead. See Luke 
xx. 27-38, and Ex. iii. 6, and vi. 3, 4. And hence Paul 
says, that they sojourned in the land of promise, as in a 
strange country ; and died in faith, not having received the 
promises (in fulfilment) ; but having seen them afar off, 
and were persuaded of them and embraced them, and con- 
fessed that they were pilgrims and strangers on the earth ; 
looking not for the fulfilment of the promises in that age, 
but in one afar off ; believing in God, who quickeneth the 
dead, and calleth the things that are not, i. e. future things, 
as though they were. In the visions of faith they saw the 
New Jerusalem here, and they looked for that city which 
hath foundations whose builder and maker is God. And 
the great hope of all those who through faith, were valiant 
for God in enduring torture and death itself, " not accept- 
ing deliverance," was, " that they might obtain a better 
resurrection," even that of which Christ says, "They 



THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 173 

that shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world (atwvoj 
age) and resurrection from (ex out of or from among) 
the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage. 
Neither can they .die- any more, for they are equal unto 
the angels : and they are the children of God, being the 
children of the resurrection." Luke xx. 35, 36. Here it 
is evident that a special or particular resurrection is in- 
tended, inasmuch as it is to be out of, or from among 
the dead ; and all who are counted worthy of it are the 
children of God. So that none but children of God shall 
then be raised. They will be raised from among the 
dead, leaving all who are not the children of God, still in 
place of the dead. Consequently it is the first resurrection. 
Paul tells us that he counted all things loss for Christ ; 
that he might know him, and the power of his resurrec- 
tion, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made con- 
formable unto his death ; if by any means he might attain 
unto the resurrection out of, or from among the dead, 
(txavaotaais) and shows that the glory of that resurrection 
will be that Christ shall change our vile body, that it may 
be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the 
working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto 
himself. Phil. iii. 7, 10, 11, 21. Such a resurrection was 
worthy of his highest ambition, though in attaining it, he 
suffered the loss of all things. 

This resurrection is called " the resurrection of the 
just." Luke xiv. 14. " But when thou makest a feast ; 
call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind ; and thou 
shalt be blessed ; for they cannot recompense thee ; for 
thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." 
And it is put in opposition to the resurrection " of the un- 
just" in Acts xxiv, 14. And answers to the resurrection 
of life, in opposition to the resurrection of damnation in 
John v. 28, 29. To this Job had reference when he 
said, 0, that thou wouldst hide me in the grave, that thou 
15* 



174 THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 

wouldst keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou 
wouldst appoint me a set time and remember me ! If a 
man die, shall he live again ? All the days of my ap- 
pointed time will I wait till my change come. Thou shalt 
call, and I will answer thee : thou wilt have a desire to 
the work of thy hands." Job xiv. 13-15. And again, 
" For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall 
stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after 
my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I 
see God. Whom I shall see for myself and my eyes shall 
behold and not another ; though my reins be consumed 
within me." Job xix. 25-27. And to this the Psalmist 
had reference when he said, "As for me, I shall behold 
thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I 
awake with thy likeness." Psl. xvii. 15. In view of this, 
Paul exclaims, " For this corruptible must put on incor- 
ruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So 
when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and 
this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be 
brought to pass the saying that is written, ' Death is 
swallowed up in victory.'" 1 Cor. xv. 53, 54. 

" Then we which are alive and remain, shall be caught 
up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in 
the air." 0, what a happy meeting ! Jesus and his re- 
deemed people ! Jesus in all the glory of his Father, and 
attended by the retinue of heaven ! Jesus arrayed in his 
loveliest charms — the fairest among ten thousand ! Jesus, 
the heavenly bridegroom, clad in his royal vestments, and 
shining in uncreated light. Jesus and his saints. His 
saints changed and glorified, and fashioned in his own 
image, and arrayed in the garments of righteousness as 
the bride of the Lamb, without spot or wrinkle, or any 
such thing. Jesus shall look upon them in love. His 
countenance will be radiant with heavenly benignity. He 
will see in them the travail of his soul, and be satisfied. 



THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 175 

While all the heavenly harpers shall sing and say, " Let 
us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him ; for the 
marriage of the Lamb is come and his wife has made her- 
self ready." Rev.jxjx. 7. It will be an eternal union ; 
" and so shall we be ever with the Lord." 

My brethren, the time is short. The day of the Lord 
hasteth greatly. It is even at the door. The first resur- 
rection must take place during the pouring out of the 
sixth vial, when Christ shall come as a thief. Are you 
ready 1 Have you washed your robes and made them 
white in the blood of the Lamb ? Are you waiting for 
his coming, and watching unto prayer? O, be more de- 
voted — more attentive to duty — more dead to the world — 
more alive to God. Be sober, watchful, prayerful. Take 
heed to yourselves lest a carnal security cause you to 
slumber, and the Lord come when ye are not looking for 
him. Alas ! there are many evil servants, who eat and 
drink with the drunken ; many having a form of godli- 
ness, but who deny the power thereof; many professing 
to know him, but practically denying him. O, my 
brethren, let not the dissensions which exist among pro- 
fessing Christians, prevent us from watching. Let us 
cherish this blessed hope, this glorious prospect, and keep 
up our heavenly conversation. It is a reality. A crown 
of life and glory — a kingdom of light and love — a world 
of joy and blessedness await the faithful followers of the 
Lamb. Jesus will soon come, and exalt us to share in 
his glory. Let us confess him then before men ; live for 
him : and daily wait his appearing. Let us press on 
towards the mark for the prize of our high calling, and be 
diligent in every good word and work, that we may be 
found of him in peace, without spot and blameless. 



DISCOURSE SIXTEENTH. 

THE DISPENSATION OF HIS COMING— AN INTERVEN- 
ING AGE— ONE OF TRANSITION— RESTORATION OF 
JUDAISM— PARABLE OF THE TEN VIRGINS— THE 
EVERLASTING GOSPEL— TIME OF JUDGMENT. 

After this I will return, and will build the tabernacle of David, 
which is fallen down ; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and 
I will set it up; that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, 
and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, 
who doeth all these things. — Acts xv. 16, 17. 

The first resurrection closes the " times of the Gen- 
tiles," and consummates the purpose of God " to take out 
of them a people for his name." This people will con- 
sist of all true believers in Christ during- this dispensation, 
who, together with the saved of Israel, and the redeemed 
of former ages, will make up the church of the first-born, 
whose names are written in heaven ; and who are to be 
kings and priests with Christ in the coming kingdom. At 
the first stage of his coming, the number of this " called, 
and chosen, and faithful" company will be completed and 
gathered together unto him, as " a kind of first fruits of 
his creatures." The wedding will then be furnished with 
guests. The cabinet of Jesus, the Son of David, will 
then be filled up, and an occupant provided for every 
throne, and a priest for every altar in the new heavens 
and new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Thence- 
forward the crown and the mitre can be won no more ; 
for then the period of man's highest probation will termi- 
nate, and this great salvation will never again be offered to 
man. Now, the gospel of this salvation is preached, and 
whosoever believeth and is baptized, shall be saved ; but 
when the glad tidings have reached all nations, then shall 

(176) 



AN INTERVENING AGE. 177 

the end come. This dispensation will then close, for the 
church will be completed and the first resurrection ensue. 
But we must not hence infer, that there will be no other 
dispensation, no other gospel, no other probation to the 
human race. 

The grand cycle of Redemption is divided into various 
ages or dispensations, having their distinctive characteris- 
tics, and so adapted by infinite wisdom to the wants of 
man, as best to secure the designs of mercy in relation to 
our race and world. To these Paul alludes in Acts xvii. 
26, 27, saying, that " God hath made of one blood all 
nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth, 
and hath determined the times before appointed, and the 
bounds of their habitation ; that they should seek the 
Lord, if haply they might feel after him and find him." 
These times embrace all dispensations — the past — the 
present — and the future. The past, have in turn accom- 
plished as far as possible, the purposes of God, and have 
recorded the results of their means and instrumentalities, 
for the redemption of man in the arcana of heaven. The 
present is rapidly filling up its register of the good and 
the bad, and will soon give place to a successor. The 
epoch of each, hitherto, has been marked by some singu- 
lar interposition of Divine providence, and we are war- 
ranted to expect that the introduction of others yet to 
come, will be attended by surpassingly grand and glorious 
exhibitions of Almighty power and grace, severity and 
goodness. Generally, too, there has been at the close of 
each dispensation, a period, serving as its epilogue, and 
having an important prospective bearing on the succeeding 
one. Such was the ministry of John the Baptist, at the 
close of the Jewish dispensation, to prepare the way of 
the Lord. Such also the ministry of Noah, for one hundred 
and twenty years, at the close of the ante-diluvian age, 
while the ark was preparing, in which it was designed to 



178 ONE OF TRANSITION, 

preserve a remnant of the old world, as a germ of the new. 
It was a time of warning, and afforded to such as believed, 
time and means of escaping the perdition of the ungodly, 
and attaining to the new condition of things. And hypo- 
thetically speaking, many might have been saved, had they 
believed, though in fact, few, i. e., eight souls only were 
saved in the ark. 

We look for a like period at the close of this age or 
dispensation : the passing away of the heavens and the 
earth that now are, and the introduction of a new heavens 
and a new earth, in which righteousness dwelleth : a 
period in which the saints shall be in the air with Christ, 
and the inhabitants of the earth shall be punished for their 
iniquity : a period in which the nations shall be broken in 
pieces as a potter's vessel ; the Jews restored to their own 
land, and a remnant of all saved from the perdition of the 
ungodly, and reserved to become the subject of the Millen- 
nial kingdom. In short, it will be a period in which the 
materials of this dispensation will be cast into the crucible 
of the Divine wrath, and prepared for a new moulding. 
And while the saints in the air with Christ, shall be con- 
stituted into a heavenly hierarchy, and learn from him the 
laws and institutions of his kingdom, preparatory to their 
reign upon earth, the judgments of God will be poured 
out on the world, and means instituted for the subjection 
of the nations to his righteous government, when he shall 
come and set up his kingdom. It will be the transition 
state from the Christian dispensation to the Millennium — 
from the heavens and earth which are now, to the new hea- 
vens and new earth — from this world to that which is to 
come — of which Peter says, " But the day of the Lord 
will come as a thief in the night : in which the heavens 
shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall 
melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that 
are therein shall be burned up." 2 Pet. iii. 10. This 



RESTORATION OF JUDAISM. 179 

period we call the dispensation of his coming, forming a 
connecting link between the present time, and the kingdom 
of God, and lasting during the time from the first to the 
second stage of his^eoming. 

To this period we think the words of our text have re- 
ference. They are quoted by the Apostle James from the 
Septuagint version of the Old Testament. The Christian 
dispensation had now been fairly introduced and the 
times of the Gentiles commenced. The door of faith 
was opened to them, in the ministry of the gospel, and 
many were converted to God. Some of the Jewish 
Christians in their zeal for the ceremonial institutions of 
the ancient economy, taught that unless the Gentiles were 
circumcised, and kept the law of Moses they could not be 
saved. The question was referred to the apostles and 
brethren at Jerusalem for settlement. In the debate which 
arose, Peter recounted the manner in which God had a 
good while before, made choice of him to preach the gos- 
pel to the Gentiles, that they should hear and believe. 
And James in reference to Peter's statement, says, " Si- 
meon hath declared, how God at the first, did visit the 
Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name." 
This visitation of the Gentiles, or times of the Gentiles 
began, then, with Peter's preaching to Cornelius and his 
friends, and will continue to the first stage of the second 
advent of Christ. James, no doubt knew, that during 
this time, "the sinful kingdom" of Israel was to be de- 
stroyed, and the Jews, " sifted as corn is sifted in a sieve, 
among all nations," according to Amos ix. 8, 9, and that 
Jerusalem would be trodden down of the Gentiles, until 
the times of this visitation should be fulfilled : and as he 
was speaking to Jewish Christians, who, according to the 
Lord's predictions, expected the destruction of Jerusalem, 
and the great tribulation which should succeed, he does 
not mention it particularly, but passes to a more agreeable 



180 PARABLE OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 

subject — the restoration of the Jews, and the establishment 
of the kingdom of David — quoting from Amos, " After 
this," i. e., after the visitation of the Gentiles, " I will re- 
turn, and will build again the tabernacle of David which 
is fallen down," &c. Here we find that his predicted 
return applies to his second advent, the first stage of which 
synchronizes with the close of the times of the Gentiles, 
the restored nationality of the Jews, and the first resurrec- 
tion. And therefore the building up of the tabernacle of 
David, and the other events predicted in the text, must be 
subsequent to the resurrection of the saints ; and imports 
that a period will then commence, in which this building 
or restoration will go on, and when the residue of men 
will seek the Lord and all the Gentiles on whom his 
name is called. This period, beginning with the first 
stage of the second advent, will continue while the saints 
are in the air with Christ, and shall be consummated by 
his glorious appearing, when with his saints he shall take 
the kingdom and possess it forever. 

The parable of the Ten Virgins, Matt. xxv. 1-13, re- 
lates to this period, and presents the aspect of the kingdom 
towards it, and the nature of that probation, which will 
then be granted to the inhabitants of the earth. 

Verse 1. " Then shall the kingdom of heaven be 
likened unto ten virgins," &c. The first point to be de- 
termined, is the time to which this parable refers : Then, 
When? Why, say some, at the day of judgment. But 
let us examine this matter. Some time is evidently refer- 
red to, about which the Savior had been speaking, and we 
must go back to the previous chapter to find it. In Matt. 
xxiv. our Lord answers the inquiries of his disciples re- 
specting the destruction of Jerusalem, the sign of his com- 
ing and the end of the age or dispensation. From verse 
fourth to fourteenth he gives a general warning to guard 
them, and all true believers, to the end of the age, against 



PARABLE OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 181 

the delusions of false Christ's, and false prophets, and the 
aboundings of iniquity until the end come. From verse 
fifteenth to the twenty-eighth, he gives special warning 
respecting the destruction of Jerusalem, and assures them 
that he would not come at that time, and that instead of 
remaining in Jerusalem in expectation of deliverance they 
should go out of it and flee to the mountains. From 
verse twenty-ninth to fifty-first he predicts his second 
coming in both stages of it ; and tells them that it will be 
"immediately after the tribulation of those days," which 
we find from Luke xxi. 20-24, will extend from the de- 
struction of Jerusalem, during the dispersion of the Jews, 
and the treading down of their city by the Gentiles, until 
the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. That tribulation still 
is in progress. And at its close the sun shall be darkened, 
&c, and they shall then see the sign of the Son of man 
in heaven, i. e., in the air, for the saints being taken out 
of the earth will be the sign, for they are to meet him in 
the air. This is the first stage of the coming, and the 
second is, when all the tribes of the earth shall mourn on 
seeing him come in the clouds of heaven, with power and 
great glory. He then introduces several appropriate illus- 
trations and warnings, particularly applicable to his saints, 
who are to be always looking for and hastening unto his 
appearing. And assures them, that at the time of his 
coming, two shall be in the field ; the one shall be taken, 
and the other left. Two shall be grinding at the mill ; the 
the one shall be taken, and the other left : referring to the 
saints being taken out of the earth at the first stage of his 
coming, while all others will be left, and warns them to be 
always ready, for as much as they know not the day, or 
hour of his coming. Now it is evidently to the time of 
his coming, from the first to the second stage of it, that the 
parable of the ten virgins refers. Then shall the kingdom 
of heaven be likened unto ten virgins. Then shall the 
16 



182 PARABLE OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 

kingdom of heaven assume an aspect to the world, which 
may be illustrated by the particular incidents of a marriage 
ceremony here related. It is not now that the kingdom of 
heaven assumes such an aspect, but then. And for want 
of attention to this particular, many have erred in applying 
the parable to the present dispensation, and making the 
virgins to represent the professing church ; for in so doing 
they violate the features of the parable, because that would 
be to make the virgins to be the bride. Taking a prophecy 
out of its connection, and applying it to some other time 
or event, than that to which it belongs, is sure to spoil it. 
It is as if a builder were to take a barge pole for a girder, 
or put the hall door in the attic story. Our Savior in this 
parable, employs a portion of the ceremonies of an orien- 
tal wedding, to represent the aspect and relations of things, 
from the time of taking his saints out of the world, until 
they shall appear with him in glory. He begins at the 
point of time in which the bridegroom is expected to re- 
turn to the house with the bride. " The procession ac- 
companying the bride, from the house of the father to 
that of the bridegroom, was generally one of great pomp, 
according to the circumstances of the married couple ; 
and for this they often chose the night." Certain virgins 
were left at the house of the bridegroom, who were to go 
forth with lighted torches to meet him, when he came with 
his bride. The virgins were not the bride : but persons 
left at the bridegroom's house, who should wait upon the 
bride and bridegroom at his coming. Hence the virgins 
cannot represent the saints of God, who constitute the 
Church, the bride, the Lamb's wife. Christ is the Bride- 
groom, and the Church is the bride. Thus Paul in Eph. 
v. 23-32, after speaking of the relation of husband and 
wife, and of Christ and his saints, says in conclusion, 
"This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ 
and the Church." The union of Christ and his saints, 



PARABLE OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 183 

who constitute his spotless and glorious bride, will take 
place at the first resurrection, when they shall be perfected 
and caught up to meet him in the air ; and when the an- 
gelic attendants wilt say, " Let us be glad, and rejoice, and 
give honor to him ; for the marriage of the Lamb is come 
and his wife hath made herself ready." Rev. xix. 7. 

Those left in the earth when the saints shall be taken out 
of it, are represented by the virgins : and I can conceive 
no event more likely to alarm them, and induce some re- 
ligious concern than the sudden and all-pervading " sign 
of the Son of man in heaven, 1 ' nor one better calculated 
to awaken them to an expectation of his speedy coming 
in the clouds of heaven attended by his saints* Then the 
evil servant will no longer say in his heart, " My Lord 
delayeth his coming ;" nor the mere professor think that 
the form of Godliness is enough, when he shall be stript of 
his cloak, and his insincerity exposed to the world. Then 
the scoffer will not say, " Where is the promise of his 
coming?" nor the worldling think that his possessions are 
to endure forever. All will be convinced that the end has 
come upon them unawares, and the day of the Lord has 
overtaken them as a thief in the night. Then will their 
hearts fail them for fear, and for looking after those things 
which are coming on the earth. Many will then repent 
of their folly and wickedness, when it will be too late to 
avail themselves of the great salvation, now offered in the 
gospel to them that believe. It will be too late then to 
secure a heavenly birthright, or an inheritance with 
the sons of God. The highest probation of man will 
then be as effectually closed by the coming of the Lord 
to all the living upon earth, as it is now by death to 
all who die in their sins. And since this great salvation 
can be secured during this probationary dispensation only, 
by fulfilling its conditions, it will be impossible to secure 
it after death, or after the coming of Christ. All who 



184 PARABLE OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 

neglect or despise it while the probation continues, will, like 
Esau, who sold his birthright for a mess of pottage, be 
rejected, when they would inherit the blessing. Esau's 
tears could not bring back the birthright he had sold, nor 
recover the blessing forfeited by his profanity : and no 
repentance subsequent to this life, or after the close of this 
probation will ever gain the once forfeited dignity and 
glory of being a king and a priest with Christ in his king- 
dom. But though Esau could not obtain the blessing of the 
first-born ; though he found no space for repentance in that 
particular connection : yet he did obtain a blessing of an 
inferior character, and was made subject to his brother. 
In like manner, though none but the saints shall be kings 
and priests in the kingdom of heaven ; yet it is written, 
that all people and nations and languages shall serve them ; 
and must, therefore, be brought into subjection to them. 
For this purpose as well as to punish the adherents of the 
Dragon, the beast, and the false prophet, the dispensation 
of his coming intervenes between the present dispensation 
and his kingdom. During this period another probation 
will be instituted, that all who fulfil its conditions may 
escape the doom of the wicked and be reserved to become 
subjects of the kingdom of heaven. And they will no 
doubt be led to inquire into the conditions and relations of 
that dispensation, and to prepare for the expected coming of 
Christ, the heavenly bridegroom, and the saints, his glori- 
fied and exalted bride. Hence, it is said, the virgins "took 
their lamps and went forth," or rather, prepared to go 
forth " to meet the bridegroom," for they did not actually 
go forth until the cry was made, " Behold the bridegroom 
cometh." But as it has been heretofore, under all circum- 
stances and conditions of human probation, so will it be 
then, a part will act wisely, by making suitable and thorough 
preparation for the expected event, and a part will act fool- 
ishly, making only a superficial and unavailing preparation 



PARABLE OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 185 

under the excitement of the occasion ; for " five of them 
were wise, and five were foolish. The foolish took their 
lamps, but took no oil with them ; but the wise took oil in 
their vessels with iheir lamps." 

How long Christ and his saints will remain in the air, 
is no where definitely stated, and how long that period 
will last, is no where positively revealed. It may be 
forty years or more. The exode of Israel from Egypt to 
Canaan appears to be typical of the exode of the Church 
of God from this world to that which is to come ; and as 
Israel sojourned in the wilderness forty years, preparatory 
to entering the promised land, so the church may sojourn 
with Christ in the air forty years before entering into the 
purchased possession or redeemed earth. This perhaps 
would be long enough to test the character of the prepara- 
tion made by those represented by the virgins : and a test 
of this kind is to be made, for " while the bridegroom 
tarried, they all slumbered and slept;" which imports 
that when the first excitement is over, they will, in gene- 
ral, cea-se to think of the coming of the Lord with his 
saints a-s immediately nigh, and will become again deeply 
concerned in business and trade, and absorbed in political 
care-s and disquietudes. Then the lamps of the foolish will 
go out for want of oil. They will be like many unwise 
professors of religion now, who seem to be very much 
engaged in times of excitement, but forsake the church 
and go back to the world as soon as it is over. On the 
contrary, the wise, having made due preparation, will 
retain a readiness, and shall be approved at his coming. 
This will be the true tarrying time. A few years ago, 
some persons, being disappointed in their expectation of 
Christ's coming at the time they had fixed for it, very 
ingeniously got up a tarrying time, based upon this para- 
ble, to account for the delay and help them out of the 
difficulty. They calculated that it would last six months. 
16* 



186 PARABLE OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 

It was fortunate for themselves and others that they made it 
no longer. They called themselves the wise virgins, and 
the churches generally the foolish ones. But then they 
grossly violated the features of the parable, for if they were 
virgins, they ought to have been asleep until the herald 
of the bridegroom announced his coming. Instead of 
which they turned heralds themselves, and set up such an 
alarming midnight cry, that many went nearly crazy. 
Their tarrying time, however, soon passed away and the 
erroneousness of their calculations and expositions was 
made apparent. 

"At midnight there was a cry made, Behold the bride- 
groom cometh ; go ye out to meet him." This probably 
intimates nothing more than that some startling sign or 
warning will be given immediately before the glorious ap- 
pearing of Christ and his saints. This sign may be noth- 
ing more than the gathering together of the armies of the 
Dragon, the beast, and the false prophet, to the place 
called Armageddon, or their combined invasion of Israel, 
in the land of Palestine, which immediately precedes the 
second stage of the advent. According to Zech. xiv. 1-5, 
the gathering together of all nations against Jerusalem to 
battle, will precede, and therefore, be as the herald of the 
coming of the Lord with his saints. Then shall the 
ungodly and disobedient be punished with everlasting 
destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory 
of his power, when he shall come to be glorified in his 
saints, and to be admired in all them that believe in that 
day. 2 Thes. 1-10. The believers in that day are dis- 
tinguished from the saints, and some have supposed that 
by the saints were meant the angels; but the text is plain 
enough and accords with other Scriptures. Observe, he 
will be glorified in his saints — the redeemed and sanctified 
of all preceding dispensations and who had been raised 
and changed and caught up to meet him in the air; and, 



THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL. 187 

who, when he appears, shall appear with him in glory. 
Hence he will be glorified in them as his chosen and 
faithful people. And he will be admired in all them that 
believe in that day, ire"., in those who by believing in and 
obeying the will of God concerning them in the dispensa- 
tion of his coming will be made the happy subjects of his 
kingdom. And for this he assigns a reason in the paren- 
thesis, viz., " Because our testimony was believed among 
you." On which account the saints shall possess the 
kingdom — and believers in that day will be reserved as its 
subjects. David in Psl. xlv. shows that the church — the 
bride of the Lamb — will be gloriously arrayed. " For on 
thy right hand shall stand the Queen, in the gold of 
Ophir: and the king's daughter is all glorious within; she 
shall be brought to the king in raiment of nee-dle work : 
so shall the king greatly desire thy beauty ; for he is thy 
Lord, and worship thou him. The virgins, her compa- 
nions that follow her shall be brought unto thee." Here 
the church is the bride, and the virgins are acknowledged 
as the companions of the bride, and though their condition 
will be comparatively a happy one, as they will be brought 
to the king "with gladness and rejoicing ; yet they will 
not be changed and glorified, but still in natural flesh, and 
shall serve the saints as the virgin attendants waited upon 
and honored the bride. 

When the wise virgins entered into the marriage with 
the bridegroom and bride, the door was shut and the 
foolish virgins were excluded. And when the believers in 
that day, shall enter into ^he kingdom as its subjects with 
Christ and his saints, the rest shall be excluded, or as 
Paul says, " banished with everlasting destruction from 
the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power. 

That dispensation will have its religious means and 
services as well as others have had. And this is symbol 
ized in Rev. xiv. 6, 7. " And I saw another angel fly in 



188 THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL. 

the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to 
preach unto them that dwell pn the earth, and to every 
nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with 
a loud voice : Fear God, and give glory to him ; for the 
hour of his judgment is come : and worship him that 
made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains 
of waters." It is worthy of note that the time of the 
angel's flight through the air, was subsequent to the seal- 
ing of the 144,000, who represent the redeemed from the 
earth, and are the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb. 
And the angel is said to be another angel, which intimates 
a different ministerial agency from that through which the 
144,000 were redeemed. And flying in the midst of hea- 
ven denotes the extraordinary character of the ministra- 
tion. It is called the everlasting gospel. In the original 
auovtov from ato* age ; and signifies the gospel of the age 
or dispensation, not the gospel of the kingdom, which is 
now preached. It is preached to them that dwell on the 
earth as distinguished from the saints who will then be in 
the air with Christ. It will be a proclamation of judgment, 
and the duties and obligations of mankind during that 
period of judgment. And therefore, in the parallel passage, 
Rev. xi. 13, it is said that when by God's judgment of a 
great earthquake, the tenth part of the city fell, and slew 
of men seven thousands, " the remnant were affrighted 
and gave glory to the God of heaven." And Isaiah says, 
" For when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants 
of the world will learn righteousness." Isa. xxvi. 9. And 
that will be a time in which the judgments of the Lord 
will be in the earth. Isaiah describes it thus, " For the 
day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is 
proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up ; and 
he shall be brought low : and upon all the cedars of Leba- 
non, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of 
Bashan. And upon all high mountains, and upon all high 



A TIME OF JUDGMENT. . 189 

hills that are lifted up, and upon every high tower, and 
upon every fenced wall, and upon all the ships of Tar- 
shish, and upon all pleasant pictures. And the loftiness 
of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of 
men shall be laid low, and the Lord alone shall be exalted 
in that day. And the idols he shall utterly abolish. And 
they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the 
caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory 
of his majesty; when he ariseth to shake terribly the 
earth." Isa. ii. 12-19. And again, " Behold the Lord 
maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth 
it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants 
thereof. The land shall be utterly emptied and utterly 
spoiled, for the Lord has spoken the word. The earth 
also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they 
have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken 
the everlasting covenant. Therefore, hath the curse de- 
voured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate. 
Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned and few 
men left. When thus it shall be in the midst of the land 
among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an 
olive tree, and as the gleaning of grapes when the vintage 
is done. They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for 
the majesty of the Lord, they shall cry aloud from the sea. 
Wherefore glorify ye the Lord in the fires, even the name 
of the Lord God of Israel in the isles of the sea." Isa. 
xxiv. 1, 3-6, 13-15. Observe when the inhabitants of the 
earth are consumed, in the day of the Lord's judgments, 
there are to be a " few men left," some who will escape 
the burning. And these are to be as the fruit remaining 
on an olive tree, or a grape vine after the first fruits have 
been gathered. And they will glorify God in the fires of 
his judgments. Again, " Fear, and the pit, and the snare, 
are upon thee, inhabitant of the earth. And it shall 
come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the 



190 A TIME OF JUDGMENT. 

fear, shall fall into the pit ; and he that cometh up out of 
the midst of the pit, shall be taken in the snare ; for the 
windows from on high are open, and the foundations of 
the earth do shake. The earth is utterly broken down; 
the earth is clean dissolved ; the earth is moved exceed- 
ingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, 
and shall be removed like a cottage, and the transgressions 
thereof shall be heavy upon it: and it shall fall and not 
rise again. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the 
Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on 
high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. And 
they shall be gathered together as prisoners are gathered 
in the pit, and shall be shut up in prison, and after many 
days shall they be visited. Then the moon shall be con- 
founded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts 
shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before 
his ancients gloriously." Isa. xxiv. 17-23. The time of 
this fear and destruction will be just before the Lord of 
hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, hence during the dispen- 
sation of his coming, when men shall in vain try to escape 
the judgments of the Lord ; when all earthly governments 
shall be broken up, and all human organizations of society 
dissolved. And at the close of which the host of the 
proud and haughty kings and potentates of earth, shall be 
cut off and shut up in the prison of hades or hell, until 
after the Millennium, when they will be visited and raised 
from the dead. 

Finally, the dispensation of his coming is to have a 
special bearing upon the future destiny of the natural seed 
of Abraham, or Israel after the flesh. A sufficient num- 
ber of the Jews will return to Jerusalem and Palestine, 
prior to the close of the times of the Gentiles to constitute 
themselves into a nation, when the fulness of time comes. 
And after the first resurrection, and the commencement of 
the dispensation of his coming, there will be a general 



RETURN OF THE JEWS. 191 

return of the Jews to Palestine, and they will settle the 
land after their old estates. Judaism will be restored, and 
the providence of God shall again mark them as his 
chosen people. Thus he will begin to "build again 
the tabernacle of David which is fallen down;" but he 
will "save the tents of Judah first ;" and the Jews will 
be the medium of God's mercy towards the nations ; for 
the great object of their restoration is " that the residue of 
men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles.'' And 
the rewards and punishments of the nations, shall have 
respect to their conduct towards the Jews, as we will 
endeavor to show more particularly hereafter. 

" But who shall see the glorious day, 

When, throned on Zion's brow, 
The Lord shall rend the veil away, 

Which blinds the nation now 1 
When earth no more beneath the fear 

Of his rebuke shall lie ; 
When pain shall cease> and every tear, 

Be wiped from every eye? 

" Then, Judah ! thou no more shalt mourn 

Beneath the heathen's chain ; 
Thy days of splendor shall return, 

And all be new again : 
The fount of life shall then be quaffed 

In peace by all who come, 
And every wind that blows shall waft 

Some long-lost exile home." 



DISCOUKSE SEVENTEENTH. 

THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 

For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mys- 
tery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits ; that blindness in 
part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come 
in : And so all Israel shall be saved ; as it is written, There shall 
come out of Zion the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from 
Jacob ; for this is my covenant with them when I shall take away 
their sins. As concerning the gospel they are enemies for your 
sakes; but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' 
sakes : For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. 

Rom. xi. 25-29. 

The invasion of Judea by the Romans ; the siege of 
Jerusalem ; its destruction ; the captivity, slavery, and 
dispersion of the Jews ; and their subsequent condition as 
a distinct people, although scattered among all others — a 
reproach and a bye-word among all nations — were circum- 
stantially predicted by Jacob, Moses, David, and other 
prophets, hundreds and thousands of years before the 
events occurred. And the Jews exist at present, as a mon- 
ument of divine faithfulness, even in the severity which 
fell and continues to rest upon them, for their infidelity 
and rejection of Christ. These predictions, however, are 
followed by others, which speak of the return of the Jews 
and of all Israel, from all countries, whither they have been 
scattered, to the land of their fathers ; their penitence, 
conversion, and acknowledgment of their long rejected 
Messiah ; their establishment in Canaan as their everlast- 
ing possession ; their political exaltation and pre-eminence 
among the nations ; and their perpetual peace, prosperity, 
and happiness. And as God has been faithful to his word 
in fulfilling what related to their punishment ; so will he 

(193) 



THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 193 

be faithful in fulfilling what relates to their future restora- 
tion and blessedness. All admit the literality of the former 
class of predictions in their application to the natural seed 
of Abraham, as proved by historic fulfilment ; but many 
contend that the latter class of predictions are to be under- 
stood in an allegorical sense, and apply to the saints, or 
spiritual seed of Abraham. This, with some, is the effect 
of a pernicious habit of allegorizing the word of God, and 
seeking for a hidden and spiritual sense, as if it were be- 
neath the dignity of truth to be revealed to us without be- 
ing wrapped up in a mystic veil. With others it is resorted 
to for the sake of obviating the difficulties, which the lite- 
ral import of these predictions present to their favorite 
systems of Theology, or schemes of prophecy. As for 
instance the Millerites, having fixed upon A. D. 1843, as 
the year of Christ's second advent, and believing, accord- 
ing to their theory, that as soon as the saints should be 
taken out of the earth, it would be immediately consumed 
with literal fire, and all the inhabitants burned up, could 
find no time for the fulfilment of what God had spoken 
respecting Israel's restoration, and hence to spiritualize 
these predictions was a convenient way of getting over a 
difficulty, though it violated their own rules of scriptural 
exegesis. But those who spititualize these prophecies 
seem not to be aware, either of the impossibility of making 
them tally with the condition and glory of the saints in 
their resurrection state, or with the church of God in the 
present world. And besides it is manifest that if one class 
of these predictions be spiritualized, so must the other be; 
and hence it would be obligatory on them to show that 
the predicted rejection, dispersion, and calamities of Israel, 
as well as their restoration and blessedness belong to the 
spiritual seed, or true Israel : for it is but just that if they 
rob the natural seed of the promised blessedness, they 
should take their curses also ; seeing that both belong to 
17 



194 THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 

the same people, and they that shall be restored, are the 
same that were first on account of their unbelief and wick- 
edness cut off and dispersed abroad. 

But there are many of the predictions relating to Israel's 
restoration, which, owing to their peculiar construction, 
defy the ingenuity of spiritualizers to wrest or pervert from 
their legitimate application to the natural seed or descen- 
dants of Abraham. Among these may be reckoned that 
of the text : for in this an antithesis is observed between 
the natural seed and the Gentiles. By Israel, in this 
chapter, Paul evidently means the natural seed, for he 
says, " that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until 
the fulness of the Gentiles be come in." Now it will not 
be said that the spiritual seed, or the faithful in Christ 
Jesus were blinded in part ; for all true believers are said 
to be enlightened, and to walk in the light. But it is true 
that a greater part of the natural seed were blinded ; for 
Jesus testified of them that their hearts had waxed gross, 
and their ears were dull of hearing, and their eyes they 
had closed, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear 
with their ears, and should be converted and saved: and 
the most of them have from that time rejected Christ, and 
still continue in unbelief; for the veil is on their heart. But 
all were not blinded ; a part believed and received Christ. 
Hence, Paul says, verse 5, "Even at this present time 
also," that is, during the Christian dispensation, " there is 
a remnant according to the election of grace." So a part 
of the natural seed, which, in verse 7, he calls the " elec- 
tion," believed and the rest were blinded. And these are 
distinguished from the "fulness of the Gentiles" — Gentile 
believers — who help to compose the spiritual seed. Con- 
sequently those who are blinded are the natural seed, over 
whose minds the veil of unbelief remains to the present 
day. But Paul says again, " Have they stumbled that 
they should fall?" that is, be utterly cast off. "God 



THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 195 

forbid ; but rather through their fall, salvation is come unto 
the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the 
fall of them be the__riches of the world ; and the dimin- 
ishing of them the riches of the Gentiles ; how much more 
their fulness?" Here the term fulness, being put in op- 
position to their fall and diminishing, must signify their 
future restoration and glory. And the meaning of the 
Apostle evidently is, that if God has made the evils which 
have befallen them in their unbelief a blessing to the world, 
how much more will he make the good that he has pro- 
mised to them, when the veil shall be taken away, an 
occasion of greater blessedness. 

The blindness in part of Israel, must continue until the 
fulness of the Gentiles be brought in — until the Church 
of Christ be completed, by the addition to it, of all Gen- 
tile, as well as Jewish believers, during this dispensation 
— and therefore until the end of the present age : and for 
this reason ; that as in the days of Christ's incarnation 
they would not believe the evidence he adduced of his 
Me-ssiahship ; but demanded as the only condition of faith 
in him, that he should show them " the sign from hea- 
ven," which is no other than his coming in the clouds of 
heaven, as predicted by Daniel ; so any thing short of this 
sign will not suffice to remove the veil from their minds. 
With the exception of individual donverts from among the 
Jews, the mass of the people are given over to an obsti- 
nate national unbelief, which can only be subdued by the 
actual appearing of the Son of man. And as that will not 
take place until after the " fulness of the Gentiles be 
brought in — the innumerable company, which shall be 
redeemed out of every nation, and kindred, and tongue, 
and people — together with the one hundred and forty-four 
thousand of the tribes of Israel ; until after the first resur- 
rection takes place, and this dispensation shall come to 
a close ; the blindness in part of Israel will not be re- 



196 THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 

moved during the present age, or by the instrumentality 
of the gospel ; for " as concerning the gospel they are 
enemies," and will so continue as long as the gospel is 
preached to the nations. Hence Christ wept over their 
city, and said, " Behold your house is left unto you deso- 
late, for I say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth, 
till ye shall say, blessed is he that cometh in the nam« of 
the Lord." Which imports that " the desolation spoken 
of by Daniel the prophet" and which moved his tender 
heart, shall continue until his second advent, at which time 
the stone which the builders refused, shall become the 
head of the corner ; and they will say, " Blessed be he 
that cometh in the name of the Lord." see Psl. cxviii. 22 
-26. And then all Israel shall be saved and restored to 
national pre-eminence and glory. 

Of this mystery the apostle would not have the Gentiles 
to be ignorant, inasmuch as a knowledge of it would, if 
properly considered, exert a beneficial influence upon 
them, first, in preventing a spirit of haughty boasting 
against the natural seed, as if they were forever cast off 
and abandoned of God ; and second, in fostering a kind 
regard for the Jews, who even in their state of national 
rejection and dispersion, are as much entitle-d individually 
to gospel privileges as any others, and are evidently pre- 
served a distinct people, for some signal manifestation of 
divine favor in the ages to come. No one can look back 
upon the past history of this wonderful people ; and con- 
sider their involuntary expatriation, since the destruction 
of their city and temple, and the contemptuous and cruel 
treatment they have met with, without being convinced of 
the importance of understanding this mystery ; especially 
since the Bible declares that those who have oppressed 
them shall be utterly spoiled : of which the fate of ancient 
Babylon is a fearful example. We must not suppose, 
because the Gentiles are now admitted as fellow heirs of 



THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 197 

the grace of life, that the Jew is excluded from gospel 
blessings. If excluded, he excludes himself by unbelief, 
and we stand by faith, let us not be high-minded, but fear. 
Nor must we suppose that Israel as a nation is aban- 
doned of God. No. When the fulness of the Gentiles 
is brought in, and the Church of the first-born completed, 
then the salvation of the natural seed shall begin : " and 
so all Israel shall be saved : as it is written : There shall 
come out of Zion the deliverer, and shall turn away un- 
godliness from Jacob : for this is my covenant with them 
when I shall take away their sins." Paul quotes from 
the Septuagint or Greek translation. In the Hebrew, Isa. 
lix 20, it is, " And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and 
unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob." This 
renders the sense more explicit and the reference is evi- 
dently to the second advent of Christ ; when by his ap- 
pearing they will be convinced of their unbelief, and ac- 
knowledge their sin in rejecting him. And then he will 
take away their sin and restore them as at the beginning. 
But they must first be gathered out of all countries where 
they are now scattered and brought back to Jerusalem and 
Judea again. And this gathering will not generally take 
place until the times of the Gentiles come to an end, and 
Jerusalem ceases to be trodden down by the Gentile foot. 
For though there are now a considerable number of Jews 
at Jerusalem and in Palestine, and many more will proba- 
bly be added to them before the close of this dispensation 
— enough at least to assume the features of nationality, 
whenever the time comes for them to do so — yet their 
general gathering will be during the dispensation, between 
the first and second stages of the coming of Christ. The 
Gentile powers that now hold Jerusalem are decreasing in 
strength, while the Jews are growing stronger, and the 
crisis may soon come when the Land of Israel will revert 
back to its rightful owners. How this will take place, or 
17* 



198 THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 

when, we cannot determine ; but that it will take place 
we have no doubt, for the Lord has said so. 

In the thirty-sixth chapter of EzekiePs prophecy, we 
have a clear and explicit prediction, respecting the resto- 
ration of Israel. In the first place he addresses the 
mountains of Israel, by prosopopcEia, and calls upon them 
to hear the word of the Lord ; he then represents the 
enemy as saying, " Aha, even the ancient high places are 
ours in possession;" describes the desolate condition of 
the land, forsaken of its former occupants, a prey and de- 
rison to the residue of the heathen that are round about ; 
declares that the shame shall fall back upon the heathen 
themselves, and adds, " But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye 
shall shoot forth your branches and yield fruit to my people 
of Israel ; for they are at hand to come. For behold, 
I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be 
tilled and sown. And I will multiply men upon you, all 
the house of Israel; even all of it : And the cities shall 
be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded : And I will 
multiply upon you men and beast; and they shall increase 
and bring fruit ; and I will settle you after your old es- 
tates ; and I will do better unto you than at your begin- 
nings ; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. Yea, I 
will cause men to walk upon you, even my people Israel ; 
and they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their inheri- 
tance, and thou shalt no more henceforth bereave them of 
men." Here it is predicted that the children of Israel are 
to return to the land of their fathers ; that it is to be a com- 
plete, not a partial restoration ; and they are to be settled 
according to their tribes, or old estates. And to hold it 
as their possession, and be bereaved of it no more. These 
events yet remain to be fulfilled. And that they must be 
fulfilled to the natural seed is fully shown, for the prophet 
proceeds to speak of the house of Israel, as having defiled 
the land, when they formerly inhabited it ; for which 



THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 199 

cause God had poured out his fury upon them; and 
scattered them among the heathen, and dispersed them 
through the countries ; and that they had also profaned his 
holy name among the heathen in their dispersion ; which 
things cannot be said of the spiritual seed or true Israel. 
And then he adds, " But I had pity for my holy name 
which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen 
whither they went, therefore, say unto the house of Israel, 
Thus saith the Lord God ; I do not this for your sakes, 
O house of Israel, but for my holy name's sake, which 
ye have profaned among the heathen whither ye went. 
And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned 
among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst 
of them ; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, 
saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you 
before their eyes. For I will take you from among the 
heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will 
bring you into your own land." What could be less sus- 
ceptible of being spiritualized than this language ? What 
could be less applicable to the seed of faith ? What more 
so to the natural seed ? Here we learn that, the Israel 
which formerly dwelt in the land and defiled it by their 
abominations and were dispersed and scattered among the 
heathen, and had profaned God's name in their dispersion 
(which is true only of the natural seed) shall at last be 
taken from among the heathen, gathered out of all coun- 
tries, and restored again to their own land, the land of 
Canaan, which is theirs by a divine grant. 

Isaiah also predicts this future restoration of the natural 
seed of Abraham, saying, " And it shall come to pass in 
that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second 
time, to recover the remnant of his people, which have 
been left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pa- 
thros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar f 
and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And 



200 THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 

he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assem- 
ble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed 
of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy- 
also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah 
shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and 
Judah shall not vex Ephraim. But they shall fly upon 
the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west ; they 
shall spoil them of the east together : they shall lay their 
hand upon Edom and Moab ; and the children of Ammon 
shall obey them. And the Lord shall utterly destroy the 
tongue of the Egyptian sea ; and with his mighty hand, 
shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it 
in the seven streams, and make men go over dry shod. 
And there shall be a highway for the remnant of his peo- 
ple, which shall be left from Assyria ; like as it was to 
Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of 
Egypt." Isa. xi. 11-16. Here we must observe that the 
time for this restoration is to be in that day, when the rod 
of Jesse, and the branch of his roots is to reign in the 
earth ; when " the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, 
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid ; and the calf, 
and the young lion, and the fading together ; and a little 
child shall lead them," &c, when, in short "they shall 
not hurt, nor destroy, in all God's holy mountain ; for the 
earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the 
waters cover the sea." And it cannot, therefore, refer to 
any previous restoration of Israel. It must be future. 
Besides it is to be a second restoration, and as the resto- 
ration from Babylon was the first, and there has been none 
since, it remains to be accomplished. It is likewise to 
be from all countries, from the four corners of the earth, 
and from the isles of the sea. There is also to be a resto- 
ration of Israel, as well as Judah, and they are to be united 
in one kingdom, and be governed by the same king as 
Ezekiel shows, » Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will take 



THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 201 

the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither 
they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and 
bring them into their own land : and I will make them one 
nation in the landjipon the mountains of Israel ; and one 
king shall be king to them all ; and they shall be no more 
two nations ; neither shall they be divided into two king- 
doms any mere at all." Ezek. xxxvii. 21, 22. 

We see, then, that God hath not cast away his people, 
the seed of Abraham his friend : that even at the present 
time — the gospel dispensation — there is a remnant of Is- 
rael to be saved through faith in Christ; that the blind- 
ness is not total, but only in part, that the casting off is 
not of an individual 'but of a national character. The Jew- 
ish believers are the remnant according to the election of 
grace, and shall attain to the glory promised ; but the rest 
are blinded, and have stumbled at the stumbling stone pre- 
sented in the humiliation and sufferings of Jesus. But 
even the nation is not utterly cast off. They suffer a long 
tribulation as a punishment for their sin in rejecting the 
Messiah, and during this period salvation is come unto the 
Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. But this time 
of tribulation to them, and of salvation to the Gentiles, 
will end, and he that hath cast them off, " shall assemble 
the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed 
of Judah from the four corners of the earth." And he 
will make them a nation again upon the mountains of 
Israel. The predictions relative to their rejection as a 
nation, on account of their unbelief and their dispersion 
among the nations, and their condition in their dispersion, 
have -been so fully and minutely accomplished, that all 
men may see the verity of the divine word, and his faith- 
fulness in its fulfilment ; according to the words of Moses, 
" Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the Lord 
done thus unto this land ? what meaneth the heat of this 
anger ? Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken 



202 THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 

the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, &c, and 
the Lord rooted them out of their land in anger, and in 
wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another 
land, as it is this day." Deut. xxix. 24, 25, 28. And 
surely there is every evidence afforded in this, of the cer- 
tainty of fulfilment which awaits the predictions respect- 
ing their restoration. We may rest assured that if he is 
faithful in executing his threatenings ; he will be also in 
fulfilling his promises. Hence he says, " For a small 
moment have I forsaken thee ; but with great mercies will 
I gather thee. In a little wrath, I hid my face from thee 
for a moment ; but with everlasting kindness will I have 
mercy on thee, saith the Lord, thy Redeemer." Isa. 7, 8. 
As concerning the gospel they are enemies for your 
sakes. For their unbelief they have been forsaken and in 
wrath they have been given over to blindness of mind and 
hardness of heart ; and the way of salvation has been 
opened to the Gentiles, (as shown in the parable of the 
marriage of the king's son,) who are now called to the 
marriage, and as many as believe receive the adoption of 
sons, and obtain the glory and dominion of the first-born. 
But though the tribulation of Israel be great, and the length 
of it be hundreds of years, it is but little and momentary, 
compared with the rich and everlasting kindness which God 
has in reversion for them after the times of the Gentiles 
be fulfilled. They are remembered by the Almighty in 
the covenant he made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as 
Paul says, " yet as touching the election they are be- 
loved for the fathers' sakes." And God will yet gather 
them to the land of their promised inheritance, and per- 
form his covenant in their establishment and blessedness 
as a nation. "For the gifts and calling of God are 
without repentance." They never change. No unfore- 
seen circumstance could arise to induce God to change his 
purposes; and it is impossible for any finite power to 



THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 203 

frustrate them. He doeth whatsoever he pleases, and his 
promises cannot be made void. He will fulfil his word, 
and as certainly to the natural seed in their relation, 
as to the seed ofjfaith in their relation. These pro- 
mises are not capriciously made, and will not be capri- 
ciously broken. They are all made in accordance with 
his unerring foreknowledge, who " seeth the end from 
the beginning, and calleth the things that are not as 
though they were." There is nothing dark in the fu- 
ture to his all penetrating eye. Its darkest shade is 
brightest noon to him. And in his sight the grand consum- 
mation of his purposes of grace to man, in the dispensation 
of the fulness of times, reflects its holy and blessed light 
upon our dark days of sorrow : and shows the present 
groaning misery of the world, as a necessary means of 
effecting its redemption from sin : for grace attains its end 
by means of wrath. The prophets predict the long con- 
tinued desolations of the land of Israel and the tribulation 
of the Jewish people in their dispersion ; but they do not 
dwell upon them. Enough is said to show that they are 
thus punished for their sins, and with a design to induce 
repentance and humiliation before God : but lest their 
hearts should faint, and be discouraged in their long con- 
tinued dispersion — they make the future restoration and 
final glory of Israel, the theme of constant inspiration and 
and song. The veil was not only drawn aside far enough 
to see the evils which were to befall them as a nation, and 
which have been mostly fulfilled ; but it permitted their 
eyes to gaze upon the distant future of blessedness and 
joy; and the vision lingers upon the building up of the 
old Wastes and the desolations of many generations, when 
for their shame, they shall have double honor, and joy 
for their confusion : when their exaltation will be as high 
as their fall has been low. And God himself shall be 
their light and salvation. 



204 THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 

The very delay which seems to impose difficulties in 
the way of fulfilment, only serves to confirm the truth of 
the predictions : how else could they be said to build up 
the old wastes and raise up the desolations of many gene- 
rations ? It required that the land should be waste and 
the cities desolate a long time to make the fulfilment true 
when it does take place. The evolution of centuries con- 
firms the counsel of the Lord, and establishes the truth of 
his word ; and the fulfilment of prophecy, in the past and 
present, is a pledge for the accomplishment, in the future, 
of all that the Lord hath spoken. 

"Thine are the wandering race that go 

Unbless'd through every land, 
Whose blood has stained the polar snow, 

And quenoh'd the desert sand ; 
And thine the homeless hearts that turn 

From all earth's shrines to thee, 
With their long faith for ages borne 

In sleepless memory. 
• * * * * • * * 

" And hath sjie wandered thus in vain, 

A pilgrim of the past 1 
No ! long deferred her hope hath been, 

But it shall come at last : 
For in her wastes a voice I hear, 

As from some prophet's urn, 
It bids the nations build not there, 

For Jacob shall return." 



DISCOURSE EIGHTEENTH. 

THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 

For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mys- 
tery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in 
part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come 
in: And so all Israel shall be saved ; as it is written, There shall 
come out of Zion the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from 
Jacob ; for this is my covenant with them when I shall take away 
their sins. As concerning the gospel they are enemies for your 
sakes; but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' 
sakes : For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. 

Rom. xi. 25-29. 

All must acknowledge the political complexion of the 
prophecy in Luke xxi. 24. " And they shall fall by the edge 
of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all na- 
tions : and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gen- 
tiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." It sets 
forth the subversion of the Jewish nation, and their politi- 
cal condition and that of their country from the destruction 
of Jerusalem by the Romans in A. D. 70, until the ter- 
mination of this dispensation, at which time, it implies the 
redemption of the land from Gentile domination, and 
the restoration of the Jews. And we learn from the 
Scriptures, that though the Lord will save the tents of 
Judah first, yet that all Israel must finally be restored to 
their own land, and settled again after their old estates. 
By comparing Scripture with Scripture on this subject, it 
appears conclusively to my mind, that there will be three 
stages of progress in the restoration : first, a partial resto- 
ration of Judah, before the close of this dispensation, so 
as to assume the features of nationality when the times of 
the, Gentiles end: second, a general restoration of Judah 
18 (205) 



206 THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 

during the dispensation 'of his coming, while the saints 
shall be in the air with Christ: third, the complete resto- 
ration of Judah, and of all Israel, after the glorious appear- 
ing of Christ and his saints, and the setting up of his king- 
dom. Yet, in many instances the grand result of all these 
stages of fulfilment, is the subject of prophetic song; and 
there is seemingly no distinction of the different stages by 
which the glorious consummation is reached. 

The Jirst stage, or partial restoration of Judah has 
already commenced. The increase of Jews in Palestine 
has been very decided since A. D. 1832. And in 1840, 
the following appeal was published in one of the Jewish 
periodicals in London, and serves to show that there is a 
fire of patriotism still burning in the Jewish breast, which 
will ere long exert itself in redeeming the city of their 
fathers from the Gentile domination. 

" The day of the Lord will appear ; his wrath rests 
not forever on the unhappy seed of Abraham ! For ages 
he has led us through the wilderness of privation and 
wo ; but the trial is coming to an end. Already daums 
the day of redemption from the east, from the land of 
our fathers, the loss of which we weep with tears of 
blood. Our inheritance rent from us by the destroying 
sword of the Romans, laid waste and desolate by inun- 
dations of Arabs, Seldshucks, Monguls, and Osmans, 
is expecting its lawful possessors, (owners) to rise from 
annihilation, to the eminence which David, the ruler of 
Jerusalem, and Damascus, once conferred upon it. Peo- 
ple of Jehovah, raise yourselves from your thou- 
sand YEARS SLUMBER ! RALLY ROUND LEADERS ; HAVING 

the will — a Moses will not be wanting. Hie rights 
of nations will never grow old; take possession of the 
land of your fathers ; build a third time the temple of 
Zion, greater and more magnificent than ever. Trust 
in the Lord, who has safely led you through the vale of 



THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 207 

misery thousands of years. He also will not forsake 
you in your last conflict." 

Mr. Lord, missionary to Saffet in 1846, writes as fol- 
lows : " NotwithsTanding what they suffer here, new 
comers are constantly arriving. While we were at 
Jaffa, on our way back from Jerusalem, a ship arrived, 
bringing a cargo of Jews from Constantinople, chiefly 
Sephardim. They told us another ship with sixty fami- 
lies from Poland had gone to Beyrout. Twenty families 
arrived here shortly after our return. Alas, they little 
think what sufferings they will have to undergo : but at 
the same time it is pleasing to see them so anxious to 
return to the land of their fathers." 

There are now (1848) at least fifteen thousand Jews in 
Palestine, half of whom dwell in Jerusalem ; and the 
number is likely to be greatly increased ere long. The 
number of Jews in the world is estimated at eight million. 
In some parts of Europe, the most oppressive measures 
have been adopted towards them, and even in those coun- 
tries, where liberty, equality, and fraternity have been pro- 
claimed, the Jews are exposed to the bitterest persecution 
from the long cherished prejudices of the unbridled mobs. 
In Russia the condition of the Jews is rendered more and 
more intolerable every year, and thousands are looking 
with longing eyes for a land of refuge, from the tyranny 
of the Autocrat, who has consented to the emigration of 
ten thousand to Palestine, and a society has recently been 
formed in London, for the purpose of colonizing the Jews 
in the land of their fathers. In the first report of that 
society it is said, "that a vast number of Jews are prepar- 
ing to emigrate from Poland and Germany, to settle in 
Palestine. Whilst throughout the whole of Europe and 
Asia, a general expectation is raised amongst them, that 
the time of their deliverance is drawing nigh."* 

* The aspect of affairs has undergone but little change since the 



208 THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 

It seems to me, therefore, that a few years at most will 
suffice, at the rate of the present movement, to bring 
about the first stage of the restoration, and close the times 
of the Gentiles. Then the first resurrection and change 
of the saints will take place, and the church of the first- 
born will meet the Lord in the air ; and the dispensation 
of his coming commence. Thus, as it was in the night, in 
which God broke the yoke of Egypt from the neck of 
Israel, that the first-born were redeemed by the sprinkling 
of blood, and saved from the sword of the angel of death ; 
so it will be at the same time in which God breaks the 
yoke of Israel's present oppression, that the church of the 
first-born shall be redeemed from death, and saved out 
of this world in virtue of having washed their robes and 
made them white in the blood of the Lamb. And as the 
Egyptians were made willing to let Israel go, by the judg- 
ments which fell upon them ; so the nations of the earth, 
when they see the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and 
feel the strokes of his wrath, shall be willing and urgent 



above was written. The Jews have suffered much in the political 
agitations of Europe for the last three years. From an authentic 
source, it appears that the number of Jews in the whole world, at 
present, is not less than fourteen million and six hundred thousand. 
Of course the former computation was not correct. Still they find no 
rest for the soles of their feet. A late writer says, " The Jews are on 
the eve, yea, in the midst of a mighty movement. There is on their 
part, a singular preparedness for some great change. They are in a 
transition state — now being schooled in every nation on the face of 
the earth, and in every branch of practical, profound, and useful 
learning, and in the various functions of office — prepared in lessons 
of rich and varied wisdom and experience, to construct for themselves 
a more perfect civil and church polity than the world has yet seen. 
There is, doubtless, Jewish material enough at the present time, to 
form a strong political body. They have numbers, wealth, intelli- 
gence, industry, enterprise. Should certain Jewish families in Eu- 
rope suddenly withdraw their capital they would cripple kingdoms." 
No doubt but God is preparing them for their restoration. The signs 
of the times, in relation to them, are portentous. A few years more 
may develope the designs of Providence to such an extent that even 
the blind politicians may see out of obscurity. 



THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 209 

for all the Jews to return to their own land. But it 
is not likely that they will obtain their land and settle it 
without opposition from those who now hold it, and from 
the nations round -about, and hence they are represented 
as fighting with, and overcoming their enemies. There- 
fore God says, " And they shall be as mighty men, which 
tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the 
battle : and they shall fight because the Lord is with them, 
and the riders on horses shall be confounded. And I will 
strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house 
of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them, for 
I have mercy upon them, and they shall be as though I 
had not cast them off; for I am the Lord their God, and 
will hear them. Zech. x. 5, 6. And again he says, " Be- 
hold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument 
having teeth; thou shalt thresh the mountains and beat 
them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff. Thou shalt 
fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the 
whirlwind shall scatter them." Isa. xli. 15, 16. Again, 
" In that day will I make the governors of Judah, like a 
hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in 
a sheaf, and they shall devour all the people round about, 
on the right hand and on the left : and Jerusalem shall be 
inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem." 
Zech. xii. 6. These, and other passages which might be 
quoted, show that the Jews will be opposed in their 
effort to obtain possession of the land of their fathers, and 
that they will overcome their enemies, and succeed in es- 
tablishing their nationality. 

The second stage, or general restoration of judah, 
then, will take place, and that God, who led the three mil- 
lions of his people out of Egypt through the wilderness, and 
brought them into the land of promise, will again lead the 
millions of his dispersed and down-trodden Israel out of 
all nations, and bring them into the land of their fathers. 
18* 



210 THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 

We have intimated that the transition state, or dispensa- 
tion of his coming 1 , between the close of this dispensation 
and the Millennium would probably be forty years. And 
as this is to be the time of Judah's general restoration, it 
seems to be confirmed by Micah. vii. 8-^20. " Rejoice not 
against me, O mine enemy : when I fall, I shall arise ; 
when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. 
I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have 
sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute 
judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light and 
I shall behold his righteousness. Then she that is mine 
enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her that said 
unto me, Where is the Lord thy God ? Mine eyes shall 
behold her : now shall she be trodden down as the mire 
of the streets." This is the language the prophet puts 
into the mouth of the daughter of Zion or Judea personi- 
fied ; and its import is that the Jews now bear their pun- 
ishment for their sin in rejecting Christ, and yet are sus- 
tained in their dispersion and tribulation by the hope of 
promised restoration and blessedness. Then the prophet in 
the next verses replies to the daughter of Zion, and says, 
" In the day that thy walls are to be built, in that day 
shall the decree be far removed. In that day also he 
(the dispersed) shall come even to thee from Assyria, and 
from the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the 
river, and from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain. 
Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate, because of 
them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings/' 
Here he shows the general return from all countries to the 
land, which had been desolate. And then he cries to God, 
" Feed thy people with the rod, the flock of thy heritage, 
which shall dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of 
Carmel ; let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in the 
days of old." In which is a prayer for the Lord to make 
the desolate land to produce and sustain his flock when he 



THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 211 

restores them. And he receives for answer the following 
declaration, " According to the days of thy coming out 
of the land of Egypt will I show unto him marvellous 
things.'''' Thus Intimating that as he had fed and sus- 
tained Israel of old, in the sojourn in the wilderness in a 
wonderful manner, so he would sustain the restored Jews ; 
and designating also the probable period or time in which 
the restoration would go on, or the dispensation of his 
coming continue. According to the time of thy coming 
out of the land of Egypt, which was forty years. 
Then, says the prophet, " The nations shall see and 
be confounded at all thy might. They shall lay their 
hand upon their mouth ; their ears shall be deaf. They 
shall lick the dust like a serpent ; they shall move out 
of their holes like worms of the earth ; they shall be 
afraid of the Lord our God, and shall fear because of 
thee." Here the prophet depicts the astonishment and 
envy of the nations round about Judea, when they shall 
see the restoration of the Jews and their establishment 
upon the mountains of Israel. And he closes with an ac- 
knowledgment of the mercy of the Lord in thus dealing with 
his ancient people, who had been so long time cast off for 
their sins. " Who is a God like unto thee, that pardonest 
iniquity, and passesth by the transgression of the remnant 
of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger forever, becawse 
he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have 
compassion upon us : He will subdue our iniquities : and 
thou wilt cast all our sins into the depth of the sea. Thou 
wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abra- 
ham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the 
days of old." 

Then shall be fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, " Sing, 
heavens ; and be joyful, earth ; and break forth into 
singing mountains : for the Lord hath comforted his 
people and will have mercy on his afflicted. But Zion 



212 THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 

said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath for- 
gotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that 
she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? 
yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, 
I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands ; thy 
walls are continually before me. Thy children shall make 
haste ; thy destroyers, and they that made thee waste shall 
go forth of thee. Lift up thine eyes round about and 
behold : all these gather themselves together, and come to 
thee. As I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe 
thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them 
on thee as a bride doeth. For thy waste, and thy desolate 
places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be 
too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that 
swallowed thee up shall be far away. The children 
which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other shall 
say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me : 
give place to me that I may dwell. Then shalt thou say 
in thine heart, who hath begotten me these, seeing I have 
lost my children and am desolate, a captive and removing 
to and fro ? and who hath brought up these ? Behold, I 
was left alone ; these, where had they been ? Thus saith 
the L®rd God, behold, I will lift up mine hand to the 
Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people : and they 
shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters 
shall be carried upon their shoulders. And kings shall be 
thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers ; 
they shall bow down to thee with their face to the earth, 
and lick up the dust of thy feet : and thou shalt know 
that I am the Lord ; for they shall not be ashamed that 
wait for me. Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, 
and the lawful captive delivered ? But thus saith the 
Lord, even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away 
and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered : for I will 
contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save 



THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 213 

thy children. And I will feed them that oppress thee 
with their own flesh ; and they shall be drunken with 
their own blood, as with sweet wine : and all flesh shall 
know that I the Lord am thy Savior and thy Redeemer, 
the mighty one of Jacob." Isa. xlix, 13-26. 

A few years will probably suffice for this general resto- 
ration of Judah. It is probable that some of the Jews will 
prefer remaining in the countries where they now are, in 
view of trade and other circumstances. And such, as well 
as the ten tribes, who are known to God alone, will not 
be restored until after the personal appearing of Christ. 
But the Jews who shall return during the second stage 
will be found to possess great wealth, and they will em- 
ploy it in building cities and villages — " building up the 
old wastes and the desolations of many generations ;" and 
the land shall be tilled and sown, and yield its increase. 
It is however rare to find a Jew a mechanic or a farmer. 
They are generally traders, merchants and bankers ; and 
hence they will probably be accompanied in their return 
by Gentile mechanics and laborers : for Isaiah says, 
" Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of 
Tarshish first to bring thy sons from far, their silver and 
their gold with them unto the name of the Lord thy God, 
and to the holy one of Israel, because he hath glorified 
thee. And the sons of strangers shall build thy ivalls ; 
and their kings shall minister unto thee." Isa. lx. 9, 10. 
"And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and 
the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vine 
dressers. But ye shall be named the priests of the Lord ; 
and men shall call you the ministers of our God : ye shall 
eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye 
boast yourselves." Isa. lxi. 5, 6. The form of government 
which they will establish will correspond with that in the 
times of the Judges, as Isaiah shows, " And I will restore 
thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the 



214 THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 

beginning." Isa. i. 26. And for the greater part of the 
dispensation of the Savior's coming they will be in a state 
of peace and prosperity. 

It may be asked, will they not then believe in Christ ? 
will they not be Christains? I answer no. They will 
not still believe in Jesus of Nazareth, although they will 
be looking for the Messiah the Son of David to come and 
establish his kingdom. But the veil will still be over 
their minds, and their restoration so far, will be religiously 
only a revival of Judaism, after its primitive type. A last 
and severe trial will, therefore, be still in reversion for 
them at the close of the period which I have designated 
as the dispensation of his coming, between the first and 
second stages of the second advent of Christ. We have 
already observed that incipient steps will be taken, just 
before the end of this dispensation, and when the first stage 
of Jewish restoration will be nearly completed, to effect a 
combination of the powers, symbolized by the dragon, the 
beast, and the false prophet, against the Jews, to prevent 
their reoccupation of Palestine. This is represented by 
the three unclean spirits, which go forth to the kings 
of the whole earth to gather them together to the battle of 
the great day of God Almighty. The first stage of the 
second advent, or Christ's coming as a thief, in its 
astounding effects upon these powers, may, for a time, not 
only prevent their combination against the Jews, but in- 
duce them to favor their restoration in its second stage of 
progress ; even as Pharaoh and his princes were induced 
by the effects of the last plague which fell upon them 
and their people, to favor the departure of Israel out of 
Egypt. But as Pharaoh and his princes afterwards lis- 
tened to evil counsel, and blindly pursued Israel to the 
utter destruction of themselves and their hosts ; so will 
these powers, deceived by the unclean spirits, be at last 
gathered together against the Jews to the battle of the 



THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 215 

great day of God Almighty, and meet with a complete 
overthrow. The kings of the whole oixovixsvr;^ habitable 
earth, consisting of Gog the chief prince of Mesheck and 
Tubal, with Persia^ Ethiopia, Lybia, Gomer, Togarmah, 
and all their bands will be confederated in this enterprise ; 
and while the chief design of the three leading Anti-chris- 
tian powers, will be to prevent the establishment of a Jew- 
ish Theocracy, and nip in the bud the universal kingdom 
of the Messiah, then anticipated by the restored Jews ; 
those confederate with them will be led to join in the inva- 
sion, from a covetous desire to possess themselves of the 
immense wealth of the restored Jews concentrated at Je- 
rusalem, which having been withdrawn from the business 
of these kingdoms at the return of the Jews, will leave 
them crippled in their resources and furnish them with a 
pretence for war. 

Ezekiel speaks of these confederated hosts saying, 
" After many days thou shalt be visited ; in the latter 
years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back 
from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, 
against the mountains of Israel, which have been always 
waste ; but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they 
shall dwell safely all of them. Thou shalt ascend and 
come like a storm : thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the 
land, thou and all thy bands, and many people with thee. 
Thus saith the Lord. It shall also come to pass, that at 
the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou 
shalt think an evil thought : and thou shalt say, I will go 
up to the land of unwalled villages : I will go to them 
that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them without 
walls, and having neither bars nor gates. To take a spoil, 
and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate 
places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that 
are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle 
and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land. Sheba, 



216 THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 

and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the 
young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to 
take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a 
prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away 
cattle and goods, to take a great spoil ? Therefore, 
Son of man, prophesy, and say unto Gog, Thus saith the 
Lord God, In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth 
safely, shalt thou not know it ? And thou shalt come 
from thy place out of the North Parts, thou and many 
people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great 
company, and a mighty army : and thou shalt come up 
against my people of Israel as a cloud to cover the land : 
it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against 
my land : that the heathen may know me, when I shall 
be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes. Thus 
saith the Lord God, Art thou he of whom I have spoken 
in old time, by my servants the prophets of Israel, which 
prophesied in those days, many years, that I would bring 
thee against them 1 And it shall come to pass at the same 
time, when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, 
saith the Lord God, that my fury shall come up in my 
face ; for in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have 
I spoken, surely in that day there shall be a great shaking 
in the land of Israel ; so that the fishes of the sea, and 
the fowls of heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all 
creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men 
that are upon the face of the earth shall shake at my 
presence ; and the mountains shall be thrown down, 
the steep places (towers) shall fall, and every wall shall 
fall to the ground. And I will call for a sword against 
him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God ; 
every man's sword shall be against his brother. And I 
will plead against him with pestilence and with blood ; 
and I will rain upon him and his bands, and upon the many 
people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great 



THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 217 

hail stones, and fire and brimstone. Thus will I magnify 
myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the 
eyes of many nations ; and they shall know that I am the 
Lord." Ezek. xxx-viri. 8-23. 

This prediction is so plain that comment seems unne- 
cessary, yet I would briefly observe, that this gathering 
together of the nations against the Jews is to be subse- 
quent to their restoration in its second stage of progress ; 
and immediately before the second stage of Christ's second 
advent; for he shall come personally to deliver the Jews 
and destroy their enemies, at the time of the battle as is 
intimated by the declaration, all "shall shake at my pre- 
sence." This coming will be accompanied with thunder- 
ings and lightnings, and hail and fire, (meteoric flames) 
and rain and a great earthquake. Hence Paul says that 
he will "be revealed from heaven in flaming fire," and 
David says, " a fire shall devour before him, and it shall 
be very tempestuous round about him," "a fire goeth be- 
fore him, and burneth up his enemies round about. His 
lightnings enlightened the world : the earth saw and 
trembled. The hills melted like wax at the presence of 
the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth." 
This is more fully set forth by Zechariah, " Behold the 
day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided 
in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against 
Jerusalem to battle ; and the city shall be taken, and the 
houses rifled, and the women ravished, and half of the city 
shall go forth into captivity ; and the residue of the people 
shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the Lord 
go forth and fight against those nations, as when he fought 
in the day of battle, (in the days of Joshua.) And his 
feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, 
which is before Jerusalem on the east ; and the mount of 
Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof, toward the east 
and toward the west, and there shall be a very great 
19 



218 THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 

valley. And half of the mountain shall remove toward 
the north, and half of it toward the south. And ye shall 
flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the 
mountain shall reach unto Azal : yea, ye shall flee like as 
ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah 
king of Judah. And the Lord my God shall come and 
all the saints ivith thee." Zech. xiv. 1-5. 

The same event is thus described in the visions of John; 
" And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; 
and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, 
and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His 
eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many 
crowns ; and he had a name written which no man knew 
but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped 
in blood ; and his name is called the word of God. And 
the armies (saints and angels) which were in heaven, (in 
the air) followed him upon white horse-s, clothed in fine 
linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a 
sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations : and 
he shaH rule them with a rod of iron : and he treadeth the 
wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 
And he has on his vesture, and on his thigh, a name 
written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And I saw 
an angel standing in the sun : and he cried with a loud 
voice, saying, to the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, 
(in the air) come and gather yourselves together unto the 
supper of the Great God : that ye may eat the flesh of 
Jungs,' and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty 
men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, 
and the flesh of all men both free and bond, both small 
and great." Rev. xix. 11-18. Turning again to Ezekiel, 
we shall find the same invitation given to the fowls at the 
destruction of the army of Gog. " And thou son of man, 
thus saith the Lord God, speak unto every feathered fowl, 
and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves and 



THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 219 

come, gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice, that 
I do sacrifice unto you, even a great sacrifice upon the 
mountains of Israel, that ye may eat and drink blood. Ye 
shall eat the flesh of^the mighty, and drink the blood of 
the princes of the earth, of lambs, of rams, and of goats, 
of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan. And ye shall 
eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, 
of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. Thus 
shall ye be filled at my table, with horses and chariots, 
with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord 
God. And I will set my glory among the heathen, and 
all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, 
and my hand that I have laid upon them. So the house 
of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from 
that day and forward." Ezek. xxxix. 17-22. 

These prophecies evidently relate to the same even«t, 
the battle of the great day of God Almighty conse- 
quent upon the gathering together of the kings of the 
whole earth, unto a place called in the Hebrew tongue 
Armageddon. For there the Lord will appear and execute 
his righteous judgments upon them. Thus when Christ 
comes with his saints from the air, he will take vengeance 
on the wicked hosts of Gog, and the united forces of the 
dragon, the beast and the false prophet ; for John con- 
tinues, " And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, 
and their armies gathered together, to make war against 
him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And 
the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that 
wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them 
that had received the mark of the beast, and them that wor- 
shipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake 
of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were 
skin with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, 
which sword proceeded out of his mouth : and all the 
fowls were filled with their flesh." Rev. xix. 19-21. " And 



220 THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 

the dragon also was taken and bound a thousand years, 
and cast into the bottomless abyss." Rev. xx. 1-3. 

Then the Jews will be saved from the utter ruin which 
these combined forces intended to bring upon them. 
Hence Isaiah says, " Say to them that are of a fearful 
heart, Be strong, fear not, behold your God will come 
with vengeance (to your enemies ;) even God with a re- 
compence ; he will come and save you." Isa. xxxv. 4. 
Then, indeed, will he " make Jerusalem a cup of trembling 
unto all nations round about, when they shall be in the 
siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem." " In 
that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jeru- 
salem : and he that is feeble among them at that day shall 
be as David ; and the house of David shall be as God ; as 
the angel of the Lord before them. And it shall come to 
pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations 
that come against Jerusalem." Zech. xii. 8, 9. 

Let us now contemplate the other side of this picture. 
Judgment is the Lord's strange work ; but necessary as a 
means to secure his merciful designs. And that great day of 
the Lord will be a time of deliverance and mercy to Judah 
and Jerusalem. For although they will suffer much in the 
siege through the cruelty of their enemies, and many will fall 
in the battle, yet salvation will come out of Zion. The Jew- 
ish nation is the first to be saved. The manifestations of 
God's grace are to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile. 
The personal appearing of Jesus Christ with his saints at 
that time, will be the sign from heaven which they have 
been looking for these two thousand years. And when he 
comes it will be in such a manifestation of his being the 
crucified Nazarene that they will be overwhelmed with a 
sense of their sin in rejecting him, and filled with deep 
contrition on account of it. While at the same time their 
minds will be prepared by the sufferings endured, and the 
spirit poured out upon them to say. " This is our God, we 



THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 221 

have waited for him, he will come and save us." Thus God 
says, " And I will pour out upon the house of David, and 
upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of 
supplications ; and tltttfshall look upon me whom they have 
pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth 
for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one 
that is in bitterness for his first-born. In that day there shall 
be a great mourning in Jerusalem : as the mourning in Ha- 
dad-rimmon in the valley of Megiddon, and the land shall 
mourn: every family apart." Zech. xii. 10-12. And in 
reference to this it is said in Rev. i. 7. " Behold hecometh 
with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also 
that pierced him, and all kindreds of the earth shall wail 
because of him. Even so, Amen." This mourning will 
be on account of their sins and unbelief, and will be ex- 
cited by the personal appearing of Christ and his saints. 
They will then see that Jesus is the Christ. The 
veil will be taken away from their minds. And like 
Thomas, they will believe because they see the nail-prints 
in his hands and feet, and the spear-mark in his side. 

The conversion of Saul of Tarsus serves to illustrate 
this subject. It seems designed by the Holy Spirit as a 
pattern of the conversion of the Jewish nation. Saul was 
a Jew, and verily thought that he ought to do many things 
contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth ; but in the 
height of his career he was converted, by the personal 
appearing of Jesus Christ to him, and the spirit of sup- 
plications poured out upon him at the same time. And 
he tells us, 1 Tim. i. 16. " Howbeit for this cause I ob- 
tained mercy, that in me first, Jesus Christ might show 
forth all long suffering for a pattern to them, which 
should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting." 
Now Paul was not the first person who obtained mercy, 
for three thousand were converted on the day of Pente- 
cost, besides multitudes of men and women on other occa- 
19* 



222 THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 

sions ; but he was the first converted by a personal ap- 
pearing of Jesus Christ. And no one has ever been con- 
verted since then, after the pattern of Paul's conversion : 
but the Jews will be converted in that manner, when 
Christ appears again the second time unto salvation ; and 
Paul, knowing this mystery, says that he was so converted 
for a pattern, of that wonderful event. Hence Paul also 
says, that he was as " one born out of due time" (txspufia) 
prematurely, or before the time. The prophet had this 
in view when he said, " Who hath heard such a thing ? 
who hath seen such things 1 Shall the earth be made to 
bring forth in one day ? or shall a nation be born at once ? 
for as soon as Zion travailed she brought forth her chil- 
dren — Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad with her, all ye 
that love her: rejoice with joy for her, all ye that mourn 
for her: that ye may suck and be satisfied with the 
breasts of her consolations : that ye may milk out and be 
delighted with the abundance of her glory. For thus saith 
the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, 
and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream, and the 
hand of the Lord shall be known towards his servants, and 
his indignation towards his enemies. For behold, the Lord 
will come witlt fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, 
to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames 
of fire. For by fire and by sword will the Lord plead 
with all flesh, and the slain of the Lord shall be many." 
Isa. lxvi. 8, 10-12, 14-16. Here we learn that the time 
when a nation shall be born at once is to be at the com- 
ing of the Lord. And when he comes in flaming fire to 
take vengeance on them that know him not, at that very 
time the nation of the Jews will be converted, the veil will 
be taken away by the sign from heaven, and they will, 
with deep contrition for their past unbelief, acknowledge 
him as the true Messiah : and hence become the most 
loyal and devoted subjects of his reign. Thus Christ will 



THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 223 

be glorified in his saints, who shall appear with him in 
glory, and be admired in all them that believe in that day, 
i. e., in the converted Jewish nation. 

Then the Thirttstage, or the complete restora- 
tion of all Judah and Israel will begin, and be con- 
summated in their permanent establishment in the land of 
promise, under the reign of Christ and his saints. This 
is predicted in Isa. lxvi. 18-20, " It shall come that I 
will gather all nations and tongues ; and they shall come 
and see my glory. And I will set a sign among them, and 
I will send those that escape of them, (i. e., of the army 
of Gog of which a sixth part are to escape or be left. 
Ezek. xxxix. 2,) unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and 
Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal and Juvan, to the isles 
afar off, that have not heard of my fame, neither have seen 
my glory : and they shall declare my glory among the 
Gentiles. And they shall bring all your brethren for 
an offering unto the Lord, out of all nations, upon horses, 
and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon 
swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the 
Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean 
vessel unto the house of the Lord." Again, it is predicted 
in Jeremiah. "For thus saith the Lord, sing with gladness 
for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations : pub- 
lish ye, praise ye, and say, O Lord, save thy people, the 
remnant of Israel. Behold I will bring them from the north 
country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and 
with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child, 
and her that travaileth with child together: a great company 
shall return thither. They shall come with weeping, and 
with supplications will I lead them ; I will cause them to 
walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein 
they shall not stumble ; for I am a Father to Israel, and 
Ephraim is my first-born. Hear the word of the Lord, 
O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, 



224 THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL. 

He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him as 
a shepherd doth his flock. For the Lord hath redeemed 
Jacob and ransomed him from the hand of him that was 
stronger than he. Therefore the)' shall come and sing in 
the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the good- 
ness of the Lord, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and 
for the young of the flock, and of the herd : and their 
soul shall be as a watered garden ; and they shall not sor- 
row any more at all." Jer. xxxi. 7-12. Then the Lord 
will make his new covenant with the house of Israel, and 
with the house of Judah, a covenant which shall not be 
broken, viz., " After those days, saith the Lord, I will put 
my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts ; 
and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And 
they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and 
every man his brother, saying, know the Lord : for they 
shall all know me, from the leas-t of them unto the greatest 
of them, saith the Lord : for I will forgive their iniquity 
and I will remember their sin no more." Jer. xxxi. 33, 
34. " Behold, I. will gather them out of all countries, 
whither I have driven them in my anger, and in my fury, 
and in great wrath ; and I will bring them again unto this 
place, and will cause them to dwell safely : and they shall 
be my people, and I will be their God : and I will give 
them one heart and one way, that they may fear me for- 
ever, for the good of them, and of their children after 
them : And will make an everlasting covenant with them, 
that I will not turn away from them to do them good ; but 
I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not de- 
part from me. Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them 
good, and I will plant them in this land, assuredly with my 
whole heart, and with my whole soul. For thus saith the 
Lord, Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this 
people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have 
promised them." Jer. xxxii. 37-42. " And so all Israel 
shall be saved." 



DISCOURSE NINETEENTH 



THE JUDGMENT.— SEVERAL APPLICATIONS OF THE 
TERM— NOT A GRAND ASSIZE— PARABLE OF THE 
SHEEP AND GOATS.— PARALLEL PROPHECIES. 



Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation 
to them that trouble you : and to you, who are troubled, rest with 
us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his 
mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know 
not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ : 
Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the pre- 
sence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power : when he shall 
come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that 
believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that 
day.— 2 Thes. i. 6-10. 

The term Judgment is used in scripture to signify the 
righteous administration of law, and hence imports the 
rule or government of a king or civil magistrate ; in- 
cluding decisions given in cases of dispute between man 
and man — the punishment of evildoers, and the reward 
of the virtuous. Hence magistrates and rulers are called 
judges. In relation to God it signifies his righteous 
government over the world, and is applied to the means 
adopted in his wisdom for our correction and instruction 
in righteousness ; as, also, to the afflictions and calamities 
sent by him as a punishment for our sins. The ways of 
providence and grace, in all ages, are designated as 
Divine Judgments ; for in them consists God's righteous 
rule and government over his creatures ; for he, though 
unseen, nevertheless, really works all things after the 
counsel of his own will, making the wrath of man to 
praise him, and restraining the excess of wrath. His eyes 
are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. He 
15 (225) 



226 APPLICATIONS OP THE 

is the judge of all the earth — the Divine Ruler, whose 
every act of administration is an act of righteous judg- 
ment. His judgment began with creation, has continued 
until now, and will never end. The Lord has not for- 
saken the earth ; nor will he abandon his right to govern 
the world. 

Bat besides the ordinary arrangements of providence, 
God has at times marvellously interposed to punish the 
workers of iniquity, and thus reveal or manifest his just 
displeasure against all ungodliness and unrighteousness 
of men ; and the term judgment is employed to desig- 
nate these extraordinary and remarkable visitations of 
God, such as the Deluge, the destruction of Sodom and 
Gomorrah — of Tyre, Nineveh, Babylon, and Jerusalem. 

If man's existence terminated with this life, then so 
far as he is concerned, judgment or the administration 
of law over him would terminate also : and the subject 
prophetically could only concern the succeeding genera- 
tions of mankind. But taking now for granted, what I 
think is susceptible of being clearly proved by the word 
of God, that the spirit of man exists after the dissolution 
of the body, and is in a state of intelligent and moral 
consciousness, it must be admitted that judgment, or 
the administration of the Divine government, continues 
in force upon him in his disembodied condition ; for no 
intelligent being can at any time be released from the 
obligations of the Divine law. And therefore the dead 
are as much subject to God's righteous judgment as the 
living. Death indeed changes their condition and dis- 
charges them from all the duties belonging especially to 
this life, founded on the relations we sustain to each 
other here ; but it does not release them from the obliga- 
tion to love God and obey his commandments, in the 
relation which they may sustain one to another in Hades 
or the unseen state. 



TERM JUDGMENT. 227 

In the change of state which takes place at death, 
there is manifestly a special visitation of Divine judg- 
ment in respect to individuals, for the scriptures assert, 
that the wicked is driven away in his wickedness, but 
the righteous hath hope in his death. When, then, the 
dust returns to the earth as it was, the spirit returns to 
God who gave it, and is judged according to the charac- 
ter previously formed, as we learn from the account of 
the rich man and Lazarus. Departed spirits are either 
comforted or tormented — either happy or miserable, 
according to the just awards of a righteous judge : but 
whether comforted in Abraham's bosom, or else tor- 
mented in the flames of wrath, they are subject to God's 
moral government, and bound by his laws. For " to 
this end Christ both died and rose and revived, that 
he might be Lord, both of the dead and of the living." 

I find no warrant in the Bible for saying that when a 
person dies, his eternal state is fixed or unalterable. I 
am sure it is not true so far as his condition is concerned, 
for that must be changed when his body shall be raised 
from the dead ; and it may not be true in respect to 
character. It may be true, and I doubt not is true ; so 
far as the awards of man's first and highest probation is 
concerned, and it will then be unalterably determined 
whether he shall be a partaker of the first resurrection 
and its consequent glory and blessedness, or otherwise ; 
but who can say that this is the only state of probation, 
and that the mercies of God are exhausted in its results ? 
Some seem to think that in a future state the wicked must 
necessarily become worse and worse, and their punish- 
ment more and more severe. But this opinion is desti- 
tute of authority, and we can conceive of nothing either 
in the nature of God or man requiring such a monstrous 
fatality. It seems to our mind more consonant with the 
nature and character of God and the ends of his govern- 



228 APPLICATIONS OF THE 

ment, and not wanting in scriptural authority, that they 
may be subdued to his will, their character improved, 
and their condition bettered. But this will claim our 
attention more particularly in a subsequent discourse; 
our present design is to show that an intelligent moral 
agent remains under the Divine government whether in 
the body or out of the body. And all who believe in 
an intermediate state between the death and resurrec- 
tion of the body, in which the spirit is conscious, must 
also believe in the axiom that the government of God 
extends over the disembodied spirits, whatever may be 
their condition or character, and whatever may be the 
end of that government, whether for weal or for woe. 

But all mankind are to be raised from the dead ; and 
in that operation another special visitation of God's 
judgment will be displayed : for every man will be raised 
in his own order ; by which will be made known God's 
approbation or condemnation of their conduct in this 
life. The saints of God will attain to the first resur- 
rection, and to all its consequent glory; and that, 
because they shall be counted worthy to obtain that 
world and the resurrection out of or from among the 
dead. But the wicked, by being excluded from it, will 
be adjudged unworthy of its blessedness and glory, and 
after the Millennium come forth in the resurrection of 
condemnation. Thus the resurrection itself will be 
characterized by judgment. It will be a righteous judg- 
ment in God to raise the saints first, and to invest them 
with glory and honor. It will be a righteous judgment 
in God to raise the wicked last, and in circumstances of 
shame and dishonor. 

But as man is destined to live forever, so he must be 
forever subject to the righteous administration of God ; 
must always be under the government of God : hence we 



TERM JUDGMENT. 229 

read of "eternal judgment," a never ending adminis- 
tration of righteous judgment over all mankind. 

Besides this general application of the term judgment 
to the governmenT^of God over his creatures, and to 
special acts of his administration, such as I have already 
noticed, it must be obvious to the reader of the Bible, 
that there is a period yet to come, which is in particular 
called the day of Judgment — the great day — the day of 
the Lord — when he shall come with the myriads of his 
saints to execute judgment upon all ; and to convince all 
that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds, 
which they have ungodly committed, and of all their 
hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against 
him. This will take place at the close of the present 
age, when one great cycle of the ages or dispensations 
of God shall be finished, and a new arrangement of 
divine government shall be introduced. 

The general opinion respecting the judgment is that 
it will be a grand assize to be held by our Lord Jesus 
Christ at his coming, in which all mankind, good and 
bad, being then raised and made immortal, shall be sum- 
moned to his bar and put on trial ; as if it remained for 
the transactions of that day to determine the quality of 
their actions and the awards to be administered. It is 
supposed that the proceeding will occupy the term of a 
natural day ; at the close of which, the wicked being con- 
demned, will be remanded to hell to be tormented forever 
and ever in a lake of fire and brimstone : and the 
righteous, being approved, will be taken back to heaven 
to enjoy eternal happiness in the presence of God : and 
that, the destinies of all men being thus unalterably 
fixed, the globe will be destroyed by fire and blotted 
from the universe of God. 

Now while we believe the testimony of God in the 
scriptures, that he hath appointed a day, in which he 



230 PARABLE OF THE 

will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ, 
and render to every man according to his deeds, yet we 
deem this common notion of the judgment, in relation 
to its time, nature, process and results, as altogether 
erroneous, and unwarranted by the word of God ; al- 
though seemingly supported by the parable of the sheep 
and goats : Mat. xxv. 31-46. I say seemingly : for 
though at first glance it appears to favor the common 
notion, a close inspection will, I think, convince any one 
that it really gives it no support at all. Let us ex- 
amine it. 

" When the Son of man shall come in his glory." 
This certainly refers to the second advent of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, when he shall come personally and visibly, 
as predicted by Daniel, and is the same spoken of in the 
twenty-fourth chapter as taking place immediately after 
the tribulation of the Jews shall come to an end : and 
which, as we have previously shown, must be anterior to 
the Millennium. 

"And all his holy angels with him." These holy 
angels or messengers will comprise the saints as well as 
those celestial spirits usually termed angels; for Enoch 
says, He shall come with the myriads of his saints ; and 
Zechariah says, He shall come and all the saints with 
him ; and Paul says, When he shall appear, then shall 
we also appear with him in glory. And this shows that 
it will be subsequent to the first resurrection ; for the 
saints must be caught up to meet him in the air, that 
they may come with him at his appearing. 

" Then shall he sit on the throne of his glory." This 
can be no other than the throne promised to him in the 
word of God. For the angel said to Mary at the time 
of the annunciation, " And the Lord God shall give unto 
hira the throne of his father David." And Isaiah says' 
that he "shall sit upon the throne of David, to order it 



SHEEP AND THE GOATS. 231 

and to establish it with justice and judgment." Jere- 
miah says, " They shall call Jerusalem the throne of the 
Lord." To this he himself refers in Matt. xix. 28 : 
'* Verily I say unTo you, that ye which have followed me, 
in the regeneration (or renewing of all things), when the 
Son of Man shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye also 
shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes 
of Israel." And again, in Rev. iii. 21 : "To him that 
overcometh will I grant to sit with me on my throne ; 
even as I also overcame, and am set down with the 
Father on his throne." Here he distinguishes between 
his own throne and the throne of his Father. The throne 
of the Father being that on which he now sits at his 
right hand, in the unapproachable light, until his enemies 
be made his footstool ; and his own throne being that on 
which he shall sit when he comes to reign on earth, and 
exalt his saints to be kings and priests with him in his 
kingdom. 

11 And before him shall be gathered all nations." 
The nations are to be the subjects of this judgment. 
The term nations is never applied to the dead, but 
always to people living on earth under organized govern- 
ments, and is generally employed to designate the gen- 
tiles in opposition to the Jews. Not a word is said 
about the resurrection of the dead ; not an intimation is 
given that any of the dead will be raised at the time of 
this judgment; and all that commentators have said 
about such resurrection on this passage is mere assump- 
tion. " All nations" can have reference only to those 
living in natural flesh on the earth when Christ comes 
in his glory : and may possibly apply to none but those 
who shall be gathered against Jerusalem to battle, spoken 
of in Zechariah xiv. 2 : V For I will gather all nations 
against Jerusalem to battle." Then he says that the 
Lord shall go forth and fight against those nations : v. 3. ; 



232 PARABLE OF THE 

and again, that at that time, " The Lord my God shall 
come, and all the saints with thee :" v. 5. 

11 And he shall separate them one from another," &c. 
Men are to be judged according to the law of the dis- 
pensation in which they live ; and as the nations who 
are here to be judged will consist of those left in the 
earth after the saints will be taken out of it ; or from 
the first to the second stage of the Saviour's advent, 
which we suppose will be about forty years, they will be 
judged according to the new probationary law of that 
dispensation : that law will have respect to the Jews, 
who will then be restored and manifested to be a chosen 
people for special purposes in God's government over 
the nations ; and those who shall obey the law of that 
dispensation, in their conduct toward the Jews, will be 
judged worthy to become subjects of the kingdom of 
Christ; while those who disobey it will be cut off. 
This will be the ground of distinction and separation ; for 

"Then shall the King say to them," &c. From this 
we learn that Christ will then have assumed his regal 
authority on earth. He will then be King, and exercise 
the government of a king, according to Psalm ii. 6 : 
H Yet have I set my king on my holy hill of Zion." 
Those on the right hand represent such as have con- 
formed to the law of that dispensation, and shall there~ 
fore as subjects inherit the kingdom as a reward for their 
obedience and ministering to the Jews. And those on 
the left hand represent such as have been disobedient ; 
indifferent to duty, and have neglected, despised, and 
oppressed the Jews. It must be observed that this 
judgment proceeds on the ground of works done, or not 
done, to a class of persons whom Christ calls his breth- 
ren, and who are evidently distinct from either division 
of the nations to whom he speaks : for he says to them, 
Inasmuch as ye have done, or have not done, it unto one 



SHEEP AND THE GOATS. 233 

of the least of my brethren, ye have done, or ye have 
not done, it unto me. By the grammatical construction 
of this passage those denominated " my brethren," must 
be as distinct from those on the right hand, as from 
those on the left. Suppose, then, according to the com- 
mon notion, that what he said to those on the right 
hand, meant, Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the 
least of yourselves ye have done it unto me, will it not 
follow that the same language addressed to those on the 
left hand must mean, Inasmuch as ye have not done it 
unto one of the least of yourselves ye have not done it 
unto me ? The term " my brethren," then, must repre- 
sent a class distinct from either those called the sheep 
or those called the goats. Now the saints of God are 
called the brethren of Christ, — but they cannot be in- 
tended, (although they shall be present, for they shall 
come with him, and sit with him in the judgment) I say 
they cannot be intended, inasmuch as having been taken 
out of the earth at the commencement of that dispensa- 
tion, the nations to be judged could not have done any 
of these works unto them. But the Jews are intended, 
who are the natural brethren of Christ, and of whom as 
concerning the flesh Christ came, and who are still be- 
loved for the fathers' sake, and will in that day be 
acknowledged as the brethren of Christ. 

11 And these shall go away into everlasting punish- 
ment, but the righteous into life eternal." The terms 
everlasting and eternal in this verse are the same in the 
original. We have had occasion before to speak of this 
term, and have shown that it does not in itself signify 
endless duration ; but, in relation to men and things, is 
generally employed to represent continuous duration 
through an age or dispensation. Here it has reference 
to the Millennium, or thousand years' reign of Christ ; 
and the sense is, that those of the nations who have not 



234 PARALLEL PROPHECIES. 

ministered to the Jews, but have evil treated them 
during that intervening period between this age and the 
Millennium, will be cut off from the earth and punished 
during the Millennium ; while the others, who have as- 
sisted them, will be admitted into the kingdom, to in- 
herit it, as subjects thereof, during its continuance. 
The one class is punished with everlasting destruction 
from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his 
power, and the other enter into his kingdom and live 
during that Millennial age, sitting every man under his 
own vine and fig-tree, none making them afraid. The 
one class are cut off — the other live during the Millen- 
nium. 

It is evident, if our exposition of this parable be cor- 
rect, that it gives no support to the common notion of 
the Judgment. And that our view is correct we shall 
now demonstrate by showing its agreement with the 
general scheme of prophecy, in which the nations are 
represented as being judged in that day for their treat- 
ment toward the Jews. See Isaiah xli. 8-16: "But 
thou, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the 
seed of Abraham my friend ; whom I have taken from 
the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men 
thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; 
I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. Behold all 
those that are incensed against thee shall be ashamed 
and confounded : they shall be as nothing : and they 
that strive with thee shall perish. — They that war 
against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of 
nought. — Behold I will make thee a new sharp thresh- 
ing instrument, having teeth : thou shalt thresh the 
mountains, and shalt beat them small, and shalt make 
the hills as chaff. Thou shalt fan them and the wind 
shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter 
them : and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and glory in 



PARALLEL PROPHECIES. 235 

the Holy One of Israel." Here the destruction of those 
nations that shall strive against the restored Jews is 
clearly predicted. See also Isa. liv. 15— IT : "Behold 
they (the nationsyshall surely gather together, but not 
by me ; whosoever shall gather together against thee, 
shall fall for thy sake. Xo weapon that is formed 
against thee shall prosper : and every tongue that shall 
rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn." 
Here the condemnation of those nations which shall rise 
against Israel is predicted, and the time specified, " in 
the judgment." Again, Isa. lx. 12, it is said: "For 
the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall 
perish, yea those nations shall be utterly wasted." We 
naturally infer that there will come a time, in which it 
will be manifested that it is God's will that these nations 
shall serve Israel, and that such as refuse to do so shall 
perish. And in Zech. xii. 2-9, we learn that those 
especially who are hostile to the Jews will be cut off. 
" Behold I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto 
all the people round about when they shall be in the 
siege, both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And 
in that day I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone 
for all people : all that burden themselves with it shall 
be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be 
gathered together against it. In that day, saith the 
Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment and his 
rider with madness : and I will open mine eyes upon the 
house of Judah, and I will smite every horse of the peo- 
ple with blindness. And the governors of Judah shall 
say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be 
my strength in the Lord of Hosts, their God. In that 
day will I make the governors of Judah like a hearth of 
fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; 
and they shall devour all the people round about, on the 
right hand and on the left ; and Jerusalem shall be in- 



236 PARALLEL PROPHECIES. 

habited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. The 
Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the 
glory of the house of David, and the glory of the 
inhabitants of Jerusalem, do not magnify themselves 
against Judah. In that day shall the Lord defend the 
inhabitants of Jerusalem, and he that is feeble among 
them at that day shall be as David, and the house of 
David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before 
them. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will 
seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jeru- 
salem." Now we find in Zech. xiv. 2, 3, that when God 
" will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle, and 
the city shall be taken," <fec, "then shall the Lord go 
forth and fight against those nations as when he fought 
in the day of battle." So that the coming of Christ is 
to take place at that time ; and this is put beyond dis- 
pute by the declaration of the prophet in verse 5 : 
" And the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints 
with thee." " In that day too the Lord shall be King 
over all the earth, and there shall be one Lord and his 
name one :" v. 9. " And this shall be the plague where- 
with the Lord shall smite all the people that have fought 
against Jerusalem ; their flesh shall consume away while 
they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume 
away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away 
in their mouth :" v. 12. 

How full and explicit is this testimony, and how com- 
pletely it corresponds with the judgment passed upon 
those represented by the goats who shall go away into 
everlasting punishment. 

But all the people of these nations shall not be de- 
stroyed ; for he says, " And it shall come to pass that 
every one that is left of all the nations which came against 
Jerusalem, shall even go up from year to year to worship 
the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep the feast of 



PARALLEL PROPHECIES. 237 

tabernacles :" v. 16. Hence we learn that some will be 
left, that is, saved from the destruction ; for although 
their nationality will be destroyed utterly, and such as 
have oppressed ancT injured the Jews will be cut off, yet 
many of all these nations will be spared in the mercy of 
God, and shall become component parts of the Kingdom 
of Christ, which will be the Kingdom of Israel. So in 
Jer. xlvi. 27, 28, God says to Jacob and Israel his 
servant, " I will make a full end of all the nations 
whither I have driven thee ; but I will not make a full 
end of thee." And in Ezek. xxxix. 21, the term judg- 
ment is expressly applied to the destruction of Gog and 
his army of nations which shall come against Israel. 
" And I will set my glory among the heathen (nations) 
and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have 
executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them." 
Thus too in Joel iii. 1, 2, 12, it is said : " For behold 
in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again 
the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem ; I will also 
gather all nations, and will bring them down into the 
valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there, 
for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they 
have scattered among the nations and parted my land. — 
Let the heathen be wakened and come up to the valley 
of Jehoshaphat ; for there will I sit to judge all the 
heathen (nations) round about." 

Now when we consider that Jesus, in the 24th and 
25th chapters of Matthew, is replying to the questions 
of his disciples respecting the destruction of Jersualem, 
its long desolation, and his coming at the end of the 
present age to restore the kingdom to Israel and judge 
the nations ; and since the parable of the sheep and the 
goats exactly corresponds with the predictions of the 
Old Testament respecting that event ; it follows that it 
is designed by our Lord to represent, not the judgment 



238 CONCLUSION. 

of all mankind in a grand assize, according to the com- 
mon opinion, but the judgment of the nations, at his 
coming to establish his kingdom, and by which it will 
be determined who shall and who shall not be spared as 
the subjects of his millennial reign. 

With this too agree the scenes described by Paul in 
our text. " Seeing that it is a righteous thing with God 
to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you ; and 
to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord 
Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty 
angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that 
know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with ever- 
lasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and 
from the glory of his power ; when he shall come to be 
glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them 
that believe (because our testimony among you was 
believed) in that day," which I shall consider more par- 
ticularly in the next discourse. 



DISCOURSE TWENTIETH. 



THE JUDGMENT.— AT THE COMING OF CHRIST— RE- 
SURRECTION OF THE SAINTS IS AN EXECUTION 
OF JUDGMENT— THE EXCLUSION OF THE WICKED 
FROM THAT RESURRECTION IS AN EXECUTION 
OF JUDGMENT — THEIR TRIBULATION PROVES 
THEIR CONSCIOUSNESS — THE BELIEVERS IN 
THAT DAY— SUBJECTS OF THE KINGDOM. 



Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribula- 
tion to them that trouble you ; but to you who are troubled, rest with 
us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, with his 
mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that 
know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus 
Christ : Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from 
the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power ; when 
he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all 
them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) 
in that day.— 2 Tues. i. 6-10. 

In the preceding verses of this chapter, Paul speaks 
of the persecutions and afflictions of the people of God 
in this life, as a manifest token, or sure proof, that there 
will be a future judgment, in which those who now per- 
secute the saints shall be punished, and the saints who 
patiently and faithfully suffer persecution and affliction 
shall be rewarded. Then the benevolence of God will be 
shown beyond all cavil, even in permitting the righteous 
to be persecuted and afflicted, inasmuch as it will then 
appear that this was a necessary part of that discipline 
which fits them for the kingdom of God, by producing 
in them the peaceable fruits of righteousness, and work- 
ing out for them a far more exceeding and eternal weight 
of glory. Hence the suffering saints have a clear con- 
viction of the doctrine of future retribution in the tribu- 

(239) 



240 THE JUDGMENT 

lations they are called to endure in this life ; and feel 
persuaded that through patient continuance in well 
doing they shall be counted worthy of the kingdom of 
God, for which they also suffer. For if we suffer, we 
shall also reign with him. 

He then proceeds to unfold in brief but comprehen- 
sive terms, some of the most prominent features and 
transactions of the judgment of God to which he had 
referred. 

f. " Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recom- 
pense tribulation to them that trouble you ;" — we must 
ever bear in mind that God is righteous who taketh ven- 
geance, and that all his judgments are just. There is 
no unrighteousness with him. The wicked shall not 
suffer more than they deserve. The justice of God will 
protect them from undeserved and needless suffering : 
but he will recompense tribulation to all the troublers 
of his saints, from Cain, who slew righteous Abel, to 
the last of the serpent brood. There will be no ex- 
ception : as surely as tribulation will be meted out to 
the persecutors of the saints at Thessalonica, so surely 
will it be meted out to all others. 

2. ''But to you who are troubled, rest with us." — 
Paul speaks to the saints at Thessalonica, and what he 
writes is equally intended for all Christians in every age 
and country ; for all shall find rest with the apostles, 
when God shall give reward unto his servants, and to 
them that fear his name, both small and great. And 
Paul says that God " will render to every man according 
to his deeds : to them who by patient continuance in 
well doing seek for honor, and glory, and immortality, 
eternal life : but unto them that are contentious and do 
not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indigna- 
tion and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every 
soul of man that doth evil ; of the Jew first and also of 



AT CHRIST'S COMING. 241 

the gentile : for there is no respect of persons with God. 
For as many as have sinned without law, shall also 
perish without law ; and as many as have sinned in the 
law, shall be judged by the law ; in the day when God 
shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, accord- 
ing to my gospel:" Rom. ii. 6-12, 16. Here we have 
plainly revealed to us the judgment of God respecting 
his saints, who by well doing seek for honor, and glory, 
and immortality, and respecting the wicked, who are 
evildoers and persecutors of his saints ; to the saints 
he will give eternal life, and everlasting rest : to the 
wicked indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish. 
And the time of this judgment is to be when God will 
judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to 
the gospel ; that is, at the close of this age or dispensa- 
tion, which terminates with the times of the gentiles, 
and the restoration of the Jewish nationality ; and hence 
it will be, 

3, " When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from 
heaven, with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking 
vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the 
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." And Peter says: 
" when the times of refreshing shall come from the pre- 
sence of the Lord, he shall send Jesus, who before was 
preached unto you, whom the heavens must receive, until 
the times of restitution of all things, spoken of by all the 
holy prophets, since the world began." "Our God 
shall come and shall not keep silence ; a fire shall devour 
before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about 
him. He shall call to the heavens above, and to the 
earth that he may judge his people." 

Now the judgment will be manifest in the saints by 

the resurrection and change of their bodies ; for Jesus 

said, " The Father judgeth no man but hath committed 

all judgment to the Son." " He that heareth my words 

16 



242 CONCERNING THE SAINTS. 

and believeth on him that sent me, hath eternal life, 
and shall not come into condemnation :" John v. 22-24. 
" And this is the will of him that sent me, that every 
one that seeth the Son and believeth on him, may have 
everlasting life ; and I will raise him np at the last 
day :" John vi. 40. Hence we learn that giving eternal 
life to as many as believe on him, by raising them up at 
the last day, is an act of judgment. And this he plainly 
declared, saying, " For as the Father hath life in him- 
self, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself, 
and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, 
because he is the Son of Man : Marvel not at this ;" 
that is, at this declaration ; " for the hour is coming in 
the which all that are in their graves shall hear his 
voice, and shall come forth : they that have done good 
unto the resurrection of life ; and they that have done 
evil unto the resurrection of damnation, or condemna- 
tion :" John v. 26-29. Hence he refers to the resur- 
rection as an instance in which the power given to him 
to execute judgment shall be displayed. But the dead 
in Christ shall be raised first — that is before the other 
dead — and the living saints shall be changed at the same 
moment, and caught up together to meet the Lord in 
the air." For then, "he that believeth in Christ, though 
he were dead, yet shall he live, and he that liveth and 
believeth in him shall never die :" John xi. 25, 26. 
Thus all the saints will be judged or counted worthy to 
obtain a part in the first resurrection, and in the Rest 
that remaineth unto the people of God. The rest 
referred to is that Millennial Sabbath of glory and 
blessedness which God has promised to his saints, as a 
reward for their toil and suffering here in his cause ; as 
Paul says, " that ye may be counted worthy of the king- 
dom of God, for which ye also suffer." The " rest' 1 and 
the u kingdom 11 are one and the same. 



CONCERNING THE "WICKED. 243 

But the manner in which this judgment will affect the 
wicked may not be so apparent to many, inasmuch as 
they are not to be raised from the dead until after the 
Millennium ; an4-if, as some persons maintain, the dead 
are utterly unconscious, they could not be affected by it 
until raised to life and consciousness. But the scriptures 
teach us that, at the same time in which God gives rest 
to the troubled, he recompenses tribulation to the trem- 
blers. Hence they must be in a state of consciousness, 
capable of being affected by the events of that judgment, 
and of feeling the indignation and wrath, tribulation and 
anguish, of which Paul speaks. In the case of the rich 
man and Lazarus, Luke xvi. 19-31, we are taught that 
the spirits of men are not only conscious after death, 
but that the righteous and wicked have a knowledge of 
each other's condition, and may communicate with each 
other : for Abraham and the rich man are represented 
as holding a discourse together on the subject of their 
respective conditions. And it is no doubt a great 
aggravation of the remorse and wretchedness of the 
wicked, after this life, to find that while they are con- 
demned to suffer for their sins, the righteous, whom here 
they despised and ill-treated, are blessed and comforted. 
I by no means suppose that there will be an indiscrimi- 
nate huddling together in one common mass the spirits 
of the unrighteous dead, or that all will suffer alike. 
I believe that in whatever consists the torment of the 
damned, it will be just, and in accordance with their 
demerit, and consequently infinitely diversified in degree. 
Those who sin most will suffer most. He that knows 
his master's will and commits things worthy of stripes 
shall be beaten with many stripes ; and the ignorant 
transgressor shall be beaten with few stripes. 

So is there a diversity in the degrees of happiness 
which the righteous dead enjoy. To all Christians, to 



244 THEIR CONSCIOUSNESS. 

live is Christ, and to die is gain. But as some live 
Christ longer and better than others, so their reward 
will be greater. It will be more gain to die. The gain 
of Paul, the laborious apostle, is undoubtedly greater 
than that of the penitent malefactor who expired on the 
cross, not as a martyr for the truth, but as an evildoer. 
And Timothy, who served God from a child, will gain 
more blessedness than such as only turn to God when 
they are about to die. For though all alike are justified 
by faith only in their coming to God, yet some have more 
works of faith to be rewarded for than have others. 
And although there may seem to be but little difference 
here between the least saint and the least sinner, except 
that one believes in Christ and the other does not, there 
will be a vast difference in their condition hereafter : 
the one will be saved and the other lost — the one will 
be comforted and the other tormented — the one will 
have part in the first resurrection, and the other will 
not — the one will be glorified with Christ, and the other 
will not — the one shall be exalted to the throne, and the 
other shall be put under the footstool. 

In the intermediate state, therefore, we believe there 
is a great difference between the righteous and the 
wicked — a difference of which they are conscious, and 
which adds to the remorse of the latter. But as the 
condition of the saints will not be perfected until the 
first resurrection, so the remorse of the wicked will 
not reach its acme until then. The same event which 
will bring glory to the righteous will overwhelm the 
ungodly with shame : for then they will be made sensi- 
ble of the great loss sustained by sin, in being excluded 
from the first resurrection and its consequent glory and 
blessedness. Hence when Jesus was asked, " Are there 
few that be saved ?" he said to them, " Strive to enter 
in at the strait gate ; for many I say unto you shall seek 



THEIR CONSCIOUSNESS. 245 

to enter in, and shall not be able." Now, iu this day of 
salvation, they that seek it earnestly and perseveringly 
shall find : but when once the Master of the house hath 
risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to 
stand without and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, 
Lord, open to us ; and he shall answer and say unto you, 
I know ye not whence ye are : then shall ye begin to 
say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou 
hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, 

I know ye not whence ye are ; depart from me all ye 
workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnash- 
ing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, 
and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of 
God, and you yourselves thrust out. "And they shall 
come from the east and from the west, and from the 
north and from the south, and shall sit down in the 
kingdom of God." Here the Saviour shows that this 
life is the only probation for that glorious state, and that 
all who would secure a part in it must now seek it by 
faith and self-denial ; for after this life it will be too late 
to seek it. Then those that seek shall not be able to 
find. And when, at the coming of Christ, this dispensa- 
tion closes, and the saints of all ages and lands shall be 
raised, changed, and glorified together, and the unbe- 
lieving and disobedient Jews, and all despisers and 
abusers of grace, shall be seized with shame and agony, 
on beholding the exalted and glorious condition of the 
saints in the kingdom of God, and themselves excluded — 
death still holding them in the prison of Hades, under 
the condemnation of the Judge of all. 

To this also Daniel has reference, chap. xii. 1-3 : 

II And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great 
prince which standeth for the children of thy people ; 
and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was 
since there was a nation, even to that same time ; and 



246 THE WICKED EXCLUDED FROM 

at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that 
shall be found written in the book. And many of them 
that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to 
everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting con- 
tempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the firma- 
ment ; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the 
stars forever and ever." Michael signifies the one who 
is like God, i. e. Christ. And the time referred to, 
when he shall stand for Daniel's people, i. e. the Jews, 
is at his second Advent, when he shall restore and deli- 
ver them from the time of trouble or great tribulation, 
which has befallen them ever since the destruction of 
their city and temple by the Romans. And then many 
of the dead shall be raised, even all the saints who are 
said to sleep in Jesus. And the awakened shall have 
life, immortal — glorious life ; the unawakened shall have 
shame and everlasting contempt ; for the original may be 
rendered — these, not some, to everlasting life, applying 
to them that awake — and those, not some, to shame and 
everlasting contempt, applying to them that are not 
awakened. 

Thus it is shown that Christ, at his second coming, 
will recompense tribulation to them that trouble you ; 
but to you who are troubled, rest. And hence the 
Psalmist says, " The ungodly shall not rise up in the 
judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the right- 
eous :" Psalm i. 5. Again : " They that trust in their 
wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their 
riches ; none of them can by any means redeem his bro- 
ther, nor give to God a ransom for him, (for the re- 
demption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth forever) 
that he should still live forever, and not see corruption. 
For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the 
brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others ; 
their inward thought is that their houses shall continue 



THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 247 

forever, and their dwelling-place to all generations : they 
call their lands after their own names. Nevertheless 
man being in honor abideth not ; he is like the beasts 
that perish. This their way is their folly : yet their 
posterity approve their sayings. Like sheep they are 
laid in the grave ; death shall feed on them ; and the 
upright shall have dominion over them in the morning ; 
aud their beauty shall consume in the grave from their 
dwelling. But God will redeem my soul from the power 
of the grave (sha-al), for he shall receive me :" Psl. xlix. 
6-15. Here the folly of worldly minded persons, in their 
eager pursuit after riches and honor, is set forth in con- 
trast with the doom awaiting them : they die ; all their 
glory and honor perishes ; and in the morning of the 
resurrection, when the upright shall be raised and glori- 
fied with Christ, their beauty shall consume away in the 
grave from their dwelling. They shall have no part in 
the kingdom of Christ, but shall remain in the state of 
the dead, when God redeems the souls of his saints from 
death and receives them into glory. 

Thus the just judgment of God will be shown in rais- 
ing his saints, and crowning them with glory, honor and 
immortality ; as well as in condemning the ungodly to 
shame and contempt, in their continued subjection to 
corruption and death. Thus the wicked shall be punished 
with everlasting destruction from the presence of the 
Lord and the glory of his power, when he shall come to 
be glorified in his saints and to be admired in all them 
that believe in that day. 

Those who shall be punished with everlasting destruc- 
tion from his presence and the glory of his power, are 
not only all the wicked of former ages, but also all those 
who being the wicked of that age, shall be cut off from 
the earth ; " For then shall the Son of Man send forth 
his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all 



248 THE SAINTS WILL RE RAISED 

things which offend and them that do iniquity ; arid 
shall cast them into the furnace of fire ; there shall be 
wailing and gnashing of teeth :V Matt. xiii. 41, 42. 
Those in whom he will be glorified are his saints, who, 
having previously been caught up to meet him in the 
air, shall appear with him in glory. And those in whom 
he will be admired are the believers in that day : that is 
the restored and converted Jews and Israelites and the 
remnants of the nations who shall be spared, as being 
righteous according to the law of that dispensation, to 
be the subjects of his kingdom. 

Paul presents this judgment before us in his second 
letter to the Corinthians, iv. 14-18, and v. 1-3 : " Know- 
ing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus, shall raise 
up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. 
For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant 
grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound 
to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not; 
but though our outward man perish, yet the inward 
man is renewed day by day : for our light affliction which 
is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding 
and eternal weight of glory ; while we look, not at the 
things which are seen, but at the things which are not 
seen ; for the things which are seen are temporal ; but 
the things which are not seen are eternal. For we know 
that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, 
we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, 
eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly 
desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is 
from heaven ; if so be that being clothed we shall not 
be found naked." Here Paul shows that the hope of the 
resurrection invigorates the Christian amid the afflictions 
and persecutions of this life, knowing that the perishing 
of the outward man is only the putting off of the old 
garment of the natural flesh or earthy nature derived 



AND GLORIFIED. 249 

from the first Adam, preparatory to being clothed with 
the resurrection body, which will be fashioned like unto 
the glorious body of our Lord Jesus Christ when he 
shall come from Heaven, and is hence called a heavenly 
body. Therefore while in this body, we groan, earnestly 
desiring to be clothed upon with our house from heaven ; 
that we may be found clothed, habited with immortality 
at the manifestation of Jesus Christ with his saints. 
Those who shall be judged unworthy of the first resur- 
rection, will be found naked. But all true believers will 
be clothed upon. For the dead saints will be raised, and 
the living saints will be changed in a moment, and in 
glorified bodies be caught up to meet the Lord in the 
air. Hence Paul further says, " For we that are in this 
tabernacle do groan, being burdened, not for that we 
would be unclothed," not wishing to put off the body 
merely, or esteeming the disembodied state as most de- 
sirable, but that we might be " clothed upon" with our 
glorified body, at Christ's coming, that mortality might 
be swallowed up of life. u Now he that hath wrought us 
for the self-same thing is God, who also hath given unto 
us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always 
confident, knowing that whilst we are at home in the 
body we are absent from the Lord," i. e. from the mani- 
festation of his personal presence and glory. " For we 
walk by faith not by sight. We are confident I say and 
willing rather to be absent from the body and to be pre- 
sent with the Lord ;" i. e. to exchange our mortal for 
our immortal condition. " Wherefore we labor, that 
whether present or absent we may be accepted of him. 
For we must all appear," or be made manifest, " before 
the judgment seat of Christ ; that every one may receive 
the things done in his body, according to that he hath 
done, whether it be good or bad." 

Yes, when Christ comes to judge the world it will then 



250 CONCLUSION. 

be made manifest whether by patient continuance in well 
doing we have secured through him a part in the first 
resurrection ; or by doing evil subjected ourselves to 
banishment from his presence and the glory of his power 
forever. "Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord we 
persuade men." And now I beseech you, brethren," by 
the solemn realities of the future ; by the hope of salva- 
tion at the coming of Christ ; by the glories of the pro- 
mised rest remaining to the people of God, that ye obey 
the gospel, repent of sin, and live a truly devoted and 
holy life, that you may escape the shame and misery 
awaiting the wicked, and obtain glory and immortality 
at the coming of Christ. 



DISCOURSE TWENTY-FIRST. 



DOOM OF THE PAPACY.— APOSTACY— MAN OF SIN- 
LITTLE HORN— BEAST WITH LAMBLIKE HORNS— 
THE FALSE PROPHET— THE MYSTIC BABYLON- 
FINAL END. 



And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in 
heaven saying, Alleluia ; Salvation, and glory, and honor, and 
power unto the Lord our God : for true and righteous are his judg- 
ments ; for he hath judged the great whore which did corrupt the 
earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his 
servants at her hand. And again they said, Alleluia. And her 
smoke rose up forever and ever : Rev. xix. 1-3. 

The rise and fall of a wonderful apostacy from Christ 
is distinctly foretold in the scriptures of truth. Paul, in 
1 Tim. iv. 1-3, says that "the Spirit speaketh expressly 
that in the latter times some shall depart," i. e. aposta- 
tize, "from the faith; giving heed to seducing spirits 
(false prophets or teachers) and doctrines of devils" 
(demons). These false teachers were the Pagan philo- 
sophers and priests who embraced Christianity about the 
time of Constantine, when it was made the religion of 
the empire. These seduced the Church of Rome and 
such as acknowledged her authority from the simplicity 
of the faith in Christ to the worship of demons, or man 
mediators, under the names of canonized saints and mar- 
tyrs. This was effected by " speaking lies in hypocrisy," 
pretending to visions and miracles, and other signs, for 
the support of their idolatry, " having their consciences 
seared with a hot iron," insensible to the moral power 
of the gospel ; " forbidding to marry," in enjoining 
celibacy on priests and nuns ; " and commanding to 
abstain from meats, which God hath created to be 

(251) 



252 THE PAPACY. 

received with thanksgiving of them which believe and 
know the truth." The features of the papacy are so 
strongly marked in this picture, that we cannot easily 
mistake the original. This apostacy was to be deve- 
loped in the latter times, which term agrees with the 
period assigned to the papal apostacy in other scrip- 
tures. Paul, in 2 Thes. ii. 1-8, admonishes the be- 
lievers there that the day of Christ's second coming was 
not then at hand, and says, " Let no man deceive you 
by any means ; for that day shall not come except there 
come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, 
the Son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth him- 
self above all that is called God or that is worshiped ; 
so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing 
himself that he is God." And this description suits the 
blasphemous pretensions of the papacy; for the pope 
hath bound the very names of Deity on his brow, and 
received divine honors as if he were truly God. " Re- 
member ye not," he continues, " that when I was yet 
with you, I told you these things ? And now ye know 
what withholdeth, that he might be revealed in his time." 
There was something which hindered the development 
of the man of sin in Paul's time, although there were 
evidences of the workings of that ambitious and apos- 
tatizing spirit even then, as he says : " For the mystery 
of iniquity doth already work ; only he who now letteth" 
(or hindereth) " will let" (or hinder) "■ until he be taken 
out of the way, and then shall that wicked" (one) " be 
revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the spirit 
of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of 
his coming." The Roman empire hindered the rise of 
the papacy ; but when it was taken out of the way and 
the seat of government was removed from Rome to 
Constantinople, the man of sin began to exalt himself in 
arrogating the title of universal bishop, and demanding 



THE PAPACY. 253 

submission from all other ecclesiastics in spiritual things. 
And the times of his manifestation are, from the period 
of his development down to the second coming of Christ, 
called by the apostle'" the latter times," being identical 
with the " time, times and dividing of a time," which, 
in Daniel vii. 23-26, is allotted to the little horn of the 
fourth beast, which little horn is evidently a symbol of 
the papacy. For we are told that " the fourth beast 
shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth," i. e. from the 
time of Daniel's vision. And we have, first, the Baby- 
lonian ; second, the Medo-Persian ; third, the Grecian ; 
and fourth, the Roman : " which shall be diverse from all 
kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall 
tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten 
horns out of this kingdom are ten kings which shall 
arise; and another," i. e. the little horn, "shall arise 
after them, and he shall be diverse from the first, and he 
shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great 
words against the Most High, and shall wear out the 
saints of the Most High, and think to change times and 
laws : and they shall be given into his hand, until a time, 
times and the dividing of a time." Now history answers 
to the prediction. The ten kingdoms arose out of the 
Roman empire in the fourth and fifth centuries of the 
Christian era; and the papacy rose up among them, 
diverse from the others in its nature, being an eccle- 
siastical power, and succeeded in supplanting three of 
them, which were plucked up before it, and their territory 
became the temporal states or dominions of the pope. 
This little horn is said to have eyes like a man, to denote 
its episcopal character ; and a look more stout than its 
fellows, to signify its arrogancy of powers and preroga- 
tives superior to all others ; and a mouth speaking great 
things and words against the Most High, to import its 
blasphemous assumption of Divine titles, prerogatives, 



254 THE GREAT RED DRAGON. 

and honors : all of which are literally true of the papacy. 
And its wearing out the saints of the Most High signifies 
its cruel and unrelenting persecutions of the Waldenses, 
Albigenses, and other Christians ; for in this it has far 
exceeded Pagan Rome, having slain more than two and 
a half millions in her cruel persecutions. The time, 
times and dividing of a time indicate the period of its 
existence, and reach down to the judgment of the Ancient 
of Days, when they shall take away his dominion to con- 
sume and to destroy it unto the end; as Paul says, 
" Whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his 
mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his 
coming." 

In Rev. xii. the rulers of this world, in their organized 
governments, are symbolized by a great red dragon, 
having seven heads and ten horns — being the political 
embodiment of that old serpent, the devil and Satan, 
who is called the god of this age, the spirit that rules in 
the hearts of the children of disobedience. This dragon 
first sought to destroy the man-child, which should rule 
all nations, with a rod of iron, and thus nip the kingdom 
of God in the bud, and defeat the fulfillment of the 
Divine plan ; but the child was caught up to God and 
to his throne, to sit at his right hand till all his enemies 
be made his footstool. After which a contest ensued 
between the dragon and his angels — representing the 
pagan priests and philosophers — and Michael and his 
angels — representing the Christiau ministers and preach- 
ers of the gospel : for Paul says, " We wrestle not with 
flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers, and 
spiritual wickedness in high places, and the rulers of the 
darkness of this world." And the result of this contest 
was that the dragon — the pagan party which had been 
predominant in the political heavens — was cast out. 
This took place in the time of Constantine ; and the 



THE TEN HORNED BEAST. 255 

Christian party became invested with the honors and 
emoluments of the empire. Then the church fondly 
thought that the kingdom of God and of his Christ had 
come; but alas!4lrwas found that the great apostacy 
from Christ which had previously begun to work was 
now developed in the fatal alliance of the church with 
the state, and made way for the rise of the man of 
sin. 

In Rev. xiii. another symbol is employed to represent 
the same worldly rulers in a different political combina- 
tion. It is a beast rising up out of the sea — or a new 
political organization rising out of the turbulent and 
agitated state of things which terminated the dragon 
form. It is known to be the same by its seven heads 
and ten horns ; and by its succeeding to the power, the 
seat, and authority of the dragon. It is only a new form 
of political embodiment for that old serpent, the devil. 
It is therefore identical with the dragon and the fourth 
beast of Daniel. On its heads were the names of blas- 
phemy — for the powers symbolized by them have all 
assumed Divine prerogatives — and the crowns were on 
its horns to indicate that the powers symbolized by the 
horns now bore sway. Daniel saw a little horn rising 
up among the ten of the fourth beast ; but in this vision 
another beast is seen rising up out of the earth, which 
symbolizes the same power. Daniel saw it in its secular 
character only, as a horn or kingdom of the Roman em- 
pire. John viewed it as an ecclesiastical empire in 
itself, with the man of sin for its head, the secular and 
regular clergy as its lamblike horns, and actually exer- 
cising imperial prerogatives, and issuing its edicts to 
kings and governments : thus exercising all the power 
of the first beast before him or in his presence. And 
in its ecclesiastical orders and rule, making an image 
of the beast which had been wounded to death in one 



256 THE SCARLET COLORED BEAST. 

of its heads, viz., the sixth ; for it was during the reign 
of the sixth, or Roman head, that it received its death 
wound by the sword of Constantine, when for a while its 
bestial character was almost destroyed ; and from which 
blow it revived in its false Christian and persecuting 
spirit. And the papacy sought to establish an ecclesias- 
tical system as similar to the secular rule of Constantine 
and his successors as possible : and gave life — a political 
existence — to this image, and that it should both speak 
by councils and decrees, and cause that as many as would 
not worship the image of the beast should be killed : 
persecuting to death by the inquisition and other means 
all who refused to follow its idolatrous practices. How 
clearly these symbols point out the papacy ! The same 
power is also symbolized by the false prophet of the nine- 
teenth chapter; and it is shown there that its course will 
terminate at the same time with that of the beast, which 
was to continue forty-two months, the same as three and 
a half years or twelve hundred and sixty days, and the 
time, times and dividing of a time. Its course then 
runs parallel with the period for which the woman is 
nourished in her place from the face of the serpent. At 
the close of which the translation of the saints will take 
place, and the judgments of God will fall upon the anti- 
christian powers to their destruction. In these judg- 
ments is included the doom of the papacy. 

In Rev. xvii. we have another vision, in which the 
worldly rulers are represented by a scarlet-colored beast, 
full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten 
horns, by which it is identified with the great red dragon 
of the twelfth chapter, and the beast of the thirteenth. 
The same combination of worldly rulers is symbolized 
by all three. On this beast sat a woman, arrayed in 
purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and pre- 
cious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her 



BABYLON THE GREAT. 257 

band, full of abominations and filthiness of her fornica- 
tion ; And upon her forehead was a name written, 
Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of har- 
lots and abominations of the earth. This woman 
is the symbol of a corrupt and idolatrous church, and 
the embodiment of all false religions. And as the beast 
which carries her represents the worldly rulers in their 
last form prior to the perdition of ungodly men, and at 
a period when both heads and horns are crownless, indi- 
cating that it will be after the dynasties they symbolize 
shall have all fallen, or when their powers will be ab- 
sorbed by this beast, which is itself an eighth head, 
though of the seven — a quintessence, as it were, of them 
all ; so the woman represents the corrupt and idolatrous 
church in her last form, though she is the same old hag 
who has given birth to all other idolatrous communities 
and abominations of the earth, and absorbs them all in 
her person. She is therefore called the " great whore, 
that sitteth upon many waters, with whom the kings of 
the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants 
of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her 
fornication." And as the corrupt and idolatrous priests 
and ecclesiastics have been the chief instigators of perse- 
cuting and killing the people of God in all ages, she is 
represented as " drunken with the blood of the saints 
and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." " And in 
her was found the blood of prophets, and of all that were 
slain on the earth." 

Here then we see that although the woman does not 
represent the papal hierarchy exclusively, yet the papal 
hierarchy is the last state of the woman in her perfect 
growth and full age. And although she successively sat 
on the seven mountains, which, like the seven heads of 
the beast symbolized the seven great empires of earth, 
she is here represented as being carried or supported by 
ft 



258 THE END OP WORLDLY POWER. 

the beast in its last form, as combining all the seven 
heads or empires in one, and forming an eighth, both 
being fully matured and ripe for perdition. And though 
she has passed through the several stages of her growth, 
and has inhabited several cities, yet in the final home of 
her choice, she still retains the name derived from her 
birth-place, the ancient city of Babylon. 

The seven heads of the beast represent the seven em- 
pires — the Assyrian, Egyptian, Babylonian, Medo-Per- 
sian, Macedonian or Grecian, the Roman, both pagan 
and false Christian, and the French, or Napoleon, which 
continued but a short space. The ten horns represent 
the ten kingdoms into which the Roman head was 
divided after its subversion by the Goths and Yandals. 
And the beast itself is the eighth head, or the seventh 
revived in its last form, as coming up out of the bottom- 
less pit or abyss, the symbol of concealed fraud and 
wickedness, and indicating that this last empire or form 
of earthly dominion will be originated and consummated 
by fraud and wickedness of the most. deep and intriguing 
character. And as this beast is the seventh revived, or 
co-representative and successor of the whole seven, it is 
said that it was, is not— that is, ceased to be after the 
overthrow of Napoleon Bonaparte — and shall ascend out 
of the bottomless pit, or be reorganized again through 
fraud and wickedness. It will be a subject of universal 
wonder and admiration. It will sustain the false and 
idolatrous church. But it shall go into perdition or be 
destroyed at the coming of Christ — the day of judgment 
and perdition of ungodly men. 

In Rev. xviii. John says : " I saw another angel come 
down from heaven, having great power, and the earth 
was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily 
with a strong voice saying, Babylon the great is fallen, 
is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils (demons) 



PALL OF BABYLON. 259 

and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every un- 
clean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of 
the wine of her fornication, and the kings of the earth 
have committed fornication with her, and the merchants 
of the earth have waxed rich through the abundance of 
her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, 
saying, Come out of her my people, that ye be not par- 
takers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 
For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath 
remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she 
rewarded you, and double unto her double according to 
her works : in the cup that she hath filled, fill unto her 
double. How much she hath glorified herself and lived 
deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her ; for she 
saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and 
shall see no sorrow : Therefore shall her plagues come in 
one day, death and mourning and famine ; and she shall 
be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God 
who judgeth her. And the kings of the earth who have 
committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, 
shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see 
the smoke of her burning. Standing afar off for the fear 
of her torment, saying, Alas ! alas ! that great city 
Babylon, that mighty city, for in one hour is thy judg- 
ment come," &c. '■ Rejoice over her thou heaven, and 
ye holy apostles and prophets ; for God hath avenged 
you on her. And a mighty angel took up a stone like 
a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus 
with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown 
down, and shall be found no more at all. And after 
these things I heard a great voice of much people in 
heaven saying Alleluia : Salvation, and glory, and 
honor, and power, unto the Lord our God ; for true and 
righteous are his judgments ; for he hath judged the 
great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her forni- 



260 HER JUDGMENTS. 

cations, anH hath avenged the blood of his servants at 
her hand. And again they said Alleluia! And her 
smoke rose up forever and ever." 

In this symbolical representation of the overthrow of 
Babylon the great there is a general view taken of the 
whole career of her existence from beginning to end ; 
and some of the imagery is applicable to her palmiest 
days. And there is a commingling of the judgments 
which have fallen on her in times past, from the fall of 
her birth-place, Babylon proper, with the approaching 
fall and utter desolation that awaits her. Hence also 
the kings of the earth, and merchants, and ship-masters, 
and sailors, and all who have traded with her, are repre- 
sented as bewailing her downfall, and saying, "Alas! 
alas ! that great city, wherein were made rich all that had 
ships in the sea, by reason of her costliness ; for in one 
hour is she made desolate !" And hence also all the 
holy apostles, and prophets, and saints, and martyrs 
rejoice in her downfall. The symbols here employed 
manifestly embrace the whole period of her judgments, 
during which the voice of God's messengers, apostles 
and prophets has been heard, saying, " Come out of her, 
my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins ; and 
that ye receive not of her plagues." 

But whatever judgments may have fallen in times past 
on the mystic Babylon, and whatever may yet fall upon 
her during this dispensation, it is certain that her final 
destruction will not be until after the first resurrection, 
and the translation of the saints, when they shall be 
caught up to meet the Lord in the air. Hence we find 
in Rev. xvi., that the Lord's coming as a thief to take 
his saints out of the earth precedes the pouring out of 
the seventh vial; and that it is under this vial that 
Great Babylon comes into remembrance before God, to 
give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his 



COMING OF CHRIST. 261 

wrath. So the final judgment on the papacy (which is 
Babylon in her perfect growth and full age) will be sub- 
sequent to the termination of the times of the gentiles, 
and during the dispensation of our Lord's coming, while 
the saints are in the air with him, or rather at the close 
of that time, when the Lord shall come and all the saints 
with him. 

In accordance with this view we have in Rev. xix. a 
description of the marriage of the Lamb, when his bride, 
the church of his redeemed ones, being complete, shall 
make herself ready. This marriage or union of Christ 
and his saints shall take place in the air, where they 
shall be gathered together unto him ; and where they 
will be with him during the time of Judah's restoration. 
After this John says, " And I saw heaven opened, and 
beheld a white horse, and he that sat on him was called 
Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge 
and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on 
his head were many crowns : and he had a name written 
which no man knew but himself. And he was clothed 
with a vesture dipped in blood ; and his name is called 
The Word of God." This scene represents the second 
glorious appearing of Christ at the close of that time 
in which the saints will be with him in the air. " And 
the armies which were in heaven, followed him upon 
white horses, clothed in fine linen white and clean." 
These armies represent the saints ; and the fine linen, 
the righteousness of the saints. They shall come with 
hira from heaven, or the air, where they shall be with 
him from the time of their being caught up to meet him 
until his appearing. " And out of his mouth goeth a 
sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations : 
and he shall rule them with a rod of iron." And this 
shows that he is the one represented by the man child, 
that was caught up to God and his throne, now coming 
1 



262 COMING OF CHRIST. 

to destroy the powers of darkness, and to take the king- 
dom. " And he treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness 
and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his 
vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings 
and Lord of lords. And I saw an angel standing in 
the sun, and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the 
fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather 
yourselves together unto the supper of the great God, 
that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of 
captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of 
horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all 
men, both free and bond, both small and great. And 
I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their 
armies, gathered together to make war against him that 
sat on the horse and against his army. ,, This beast is 
the representative of the earthly rulers — the beast that 
carried the woman, or supports the idolatrous church, in 
the ten horned state — representing the ten kingdoms ; 
for " these have one mind and shall give their power and 
strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the 
Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them ; for he is 
Lord of lords, and King of kings, and they that are with 
him are called and chosen and faithful." 

It will not be their iutention, indeed, to make war on 
the Lamb in person : but in making war on the restored 
Jews, they will in fact be making war upon the Lamb, 
inasmuch as he is their Messiah, and will reckon what- 
ever is done to them as being done to himself. " And 
he will go forth and fight against those nations, as when 
he fought in the day of battle ; And his feet shall stand 
in that day upon the Mount of Olives which is before 
Jerusalem on the east ; and the Mount of Olives shall 
cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward 
the west, and there shall be a very great valley ; and 
half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and 



WORLDLY POWER OVERTHROWN. 263 

half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee to the 
valley of the mountains ; for the valley of the mountains 
shall reach unto Azal : yea ye shall flee, like as ye fled 
from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of 
Judah : and the Lord my God shall come, and all the 
saints with thee :" Zech. xiv. 3-5. " Yea the Lord 
shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy 
like a man of war ; he shall cry, yea roar ; he shall pre- 
vail against his enemies :" Isa. xlii. 13. " The Lord 
shall roar from on high and utter his voice from his holy 
habitation ; he shall give a shout as they that tread 
grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. A noise 
shall come even to the ends of the earth : for the Lord 
hath a controversy with all nations, he will plead with 
all flesh : he will give them that are wicked to the sword, 
saith the Lord. And the slain of the Lord shall be at 
that day, from one end of the earth even unto the other 
end of the earth : they shall not be lamented, neither 
gathered nor buried : they shall be dung upon the 
ground :" Jer. xxv. 30-33. And again, " Let the hea- 
then be wakened and come up to the valley of Jehosha- 
phat : for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round 
about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe : 
Come get you down ; for the press is full ; the vats 
overflow ; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, 
multitudes in the valley of decision, for the day of 
the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun 
and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall 
withdraw their shining. The Lord shall roar out of 
Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem : and the 
heavens and the earth shall shake ; but the Lord will be 
the hope of his people and the strength of the children 
of Israel :" Joel iii. 12-16. "And the beast was taken, 
and with him the false prophet, that wrought miracles 
before him, with which he deceived them that had 



264 THE WICKED OVERTHROWN. 

received the mark of the beast, and them that wor- 
shiped his image. These both were cast alive into a 
lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant 
were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the 
horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth, and all 
the fowls were filled with their flesh :" Rev. xix. 20, 21. 
Here then we learn that the beast and the false pro- 
phet will both be engaged in this war against the Lamb. 
These are identical with Daniel's fourth beast and the 
little horn ; and this last beast and the woman. And 
the beast symbolizing the worldly rulers, and the false 
prophet or two horned beast symbolizing the idolatrous 
church, shall be destroyed together — cast into a lake of 
fire, burning with brimstone, to signify their punish- 
ment ; and thus the body of the beast will be given to 
the burning flame, and the little horn with it. The em- 
pires and kingdoms of earth shall be overthrown, and 
their idolatrous mistress shall perish with them. And 
the wicked one shall be destroyed by the brightness of 
his coming, even Christ, who shall then appear with his 
saints and take the kingdom. 



DISCOURSE TWENTY-SECOND. 



ADAM'S SOVEREIGNTY TRANSFERRED TO CHRTST— 
TIME APPOINTED IS HIS SECOND COMING.— INTER- 
VENING JUDGMENTS — THE GOSPEL AGE — THE 
SAINTS JUDGED— THE NATIONS TRIED— CHRIST'S 
REIGN, A JUDGMENT.— TESTIMONY FROM PSALMS 
— FROM ISAIAH — ETERNAL JUDGMENT — THE 
SAINTS TO PARTICIPATE IN IT. 



And of eternal Judgment. — Heb. vi. 2. 

God made Adam for dominion and placed the govern- 
ment of earth in his hands, constituting him the ruler or 
judge of the world thus subjected to his sway ; and had 
he retained his moral rectitude, his dominion would have 
been established. But man being in honor, abode not. 
By transgression he forfeited the trust, as he thus rendered 
himself unworthy of it. And he was deposed from the 
seat of power. The economy of Redemption transfers 
to Christ, the Son of God, who, as the second Adam, 
fulfills the law and makes it honorable, all that was for- 
feited by our first representative head. But ages were 
required for the work of redemption ; because a seed 
must be saved by grace, through faith, from the fallen 
posterity of the first Adam, to be joint heirs with the 
second in the restitution of all things ; that they as the 
spiritual first-born, may inherit the glory and honor 
belonging by the original constitution to the natural first- 
born. " For the first man is of the earth, earthy ; the 
second man is the Lord from heaven : as is the earthy, 
such are they that are earthy ; and as is the heavenly, 
such are they also that are heavenly." 

The time appointed of the Father for the redemption 
of the purchased possession is at the end of this age, 

(265) 



266 INTERVENING JUDGMENTS. 

when the church of the first-born shall be completed 
according to the foreknowledge of God, and the time 
comes for the saints to take the kingdom : until then the 
kingdoms symbolized by Nebuchadnezzar's image bear 
rule, and the earth groans beneath the curse of sin. 
From the fall of man to the second coming of the Lord, 
the Divine government over the world is committed to 
the ministration of angels, and in a few instances the 
hand of God has been made bare in remarkable inter- 
positions of Providence for the punishment of evildoers 
and the deliverance of his people : but only when ren- 
dered necessary for carrying on the scheme of redemp- 
tion, and as a warning to them that should afterward 
live ungodly. These were the flood — the overthrow of 
Sodom and Gomorrah — the plagues of Egypt and others 
of a like nature. But such visitations must necessarily 
occur but seldom in a probationary system like the 
present, although the forbearance of God should be 
abused by many to more ungodliness ; for because judg- 
ment is not speedily executed against an evil work, there- 
fore the hearts of the children of men are fully set in 
them to do evil. 

The grand instrumentality employed for the salvation 
of mankind during this period is the gospel of our Lord 
Jesus Christ ; and man is left to his own election as a 
free agent, under the influence of moral suasion. Faith 
becomes in this case the active principle of salvation and 
efficient cause of justification. Hence we read that God 
sent not his Son into the world to condemn (judge) the 
world, but that the world through him might be saved. 
He that believeth on him is not condemned (judged) ; 
but he that believeth not is condemned (judged) already ; 
because he has not believed in the name of the only 
begotten Son of God. John iii. It, 18. And Jesus said 
again, "He that heareth my word and believeth on him 



THE SAINTS JUDGED. 267 

that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into 
condemnation {judgment) but is passed from death unto 
life." It appears therefore that a judgment is going on 
through all dispensations, though the execution of it, in 
appropriate rewards and punishments is delayed until 
the Lord cometh to render to every man according to 
his deeds. Hence it is written, " The eyes of the Lord 
are in every place, beholding the evil and the good;" 
and "the Lord trieth the righteous ; but the wicked and 
him that loveth violence his soul hateth." But though 
the righteous are approved and justified, they are not 
rewarded in this life ; and the wicked, though condemned 
or judged, are not punished in this life. Consequently 
there must be a future state in which God will give 
rewards unto his servants, both small and great, and in 
which he will punish the transgressor. For God will 
bring every work into judgment, and every secret thing, 
whether it be good or evil. And he hath appointed a 
day in which he will judge the world in righteousness, 
by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath 
given us assurance in that he hath raised him from the 
dead. 

I hare, in a previous discourse, shown that the Lord 
will execute judgment in behalf of his saints by raising 
them up again in the first resurrection, and making them 
coheirs of his glory and blessedness when he shall come 
to reign on the earth ; and at the same time the sentence 
of condemnation will be executed upon the wicked in 
excluding them from that glorious condition and visiting 
upon them indignation and wrath, tribulation and 
anguish. Hence, "He that believeth on the Son hath 
everlasting life : and he that believeth not the Son, shall 
not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." 
John iii. 36. The life here spoken of as the portion of 
the believer must signify the tirst resurrection, in which 



268 THE NATIONS TRIED. 

mortal shall put on immortality and the glory promised 
to the saints; in which an unbeliever hath no part, re- 
maining under the curse of the law, and the wrath of 
God abiding upon him. This judgment will concern 
both the quick and the dead : for the living saints shall 
be changed, at the same moment in which the dead 
saints shall be raised; and both shall be caught up 
together to meet the Lord in the air : and the wicked 
then living on the earth will not be changed, and the 
wicked dead will not be raised, but both alike shall be 
excluded from the first resurrection and its distinguishing 
immortality and glory. 

I have also shown that after the saints are taken out 
of the earth, and while they are in the air with Christ, 
the refuse material of this dispensation will be cast into 
the crucible of divine wrath, and prepared for a new 
moulding ; then the judgments of God will be poured 
upon the world and the nations be broken in pieces and 
finally subjected to the righteous government of Christ 
and his saints. This is shown in the destruction of 
Nebuchadnezzar's image, by the stone which became a 
great mountain and filled the whole earth, as well as in 
other corresponding symbols. Then Christ will come 
and execute judgment on the guilty nations ; establish 
his kingdom ; effect the complete restoration of Israel, 
and subdue all the earth to his government. But when 
the various acts of judgment necessarily involved in this 
process shall have terminated in the overthrow of all 
rule and authority and power now opposed to Christ, 
the day of judgment will have only just begun ; for we 
must not suppose that the term day means a period of 
twenty-four hours only : the term is used to denote 
periods of various lengths, and frequently is applied to 
a dispensation, however long it may be. We need not 
then be surprised if the term in this connection be found 



CHRIST'S REIGN, A JUDGMENT. 269 

to embrace a long period — a period beginning at the 
close of this dispensation which is the day of salvation, 
and extending through the millennial reign of Christ, 
including the finaTsubjection of all things unto him, at 
the close of which he shall deliver up the kingdom to 
God, even the Father, and God be all in all. 

David in Psalm lxxii. 1-4, 8, IT, says, "Give the 
king thy judgments, God, and thy righteousness unto 
the king's son. He shall judge thy people with righteous- 
ness, and thy poor with judgment. The mountains 
shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by 
righteousness. He shall judge the poor of thy people, 
he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break 
in pieces the oppressor. He shall have dominion also 
from sea to sea, and from the rivers unto the ends of the 
earth. His name shall endure forever ; his name shall 
be continued as long as the sun; and men shall be 
blessed in him ; all nations shall call him blessed." This 
relates to the reign of the Messiah the son of David, 
when his kingdom shall be established on the earth and 
he shall judge among the nations. Again Psl. xcviii. 
1-9, " sing unto the Lord a new song ; for he hath 
done marvelous things ; his right hand and his holy arm 
hath gotten him the victory. The Lord hath made 
known his salvation : his righteousness hath he openly 
showed in the sight of the heathen ; he hath remembered 
his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel : all 
the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. 
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth ; make 
a loud noise and rejoice and sing praise. Sing unto the 
Lord with the harp : with a harp and the voice of a 
psalm. With trumpets and sound of cornet make a 
joyful noise before the Lord the king. Let the sea roar, 
and the fullness thereof ; the world and they that dwell 
therein. Let the floods clap their hands ; let the hills be 



210 TESTIMONY FROM THE PSALMS, 

joyful together before the Lord ; for he cometh to judge 
the earth : with righteousness shall he judge the world, 
and the people with equity." This assuredly relates to 
the millennial dispensation, and we see that then the 
Lord cometh to judge the world. Again Psl. xcvi. 10- 
13, " Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth : 
the world also shall be established that it shall not be 
moved : he shall judge the people righteously. Let the 
heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad ; let the sea 
roar and the fullness thereof. Let the field be joyful and 
all that is therein : then shall all the trees of the wood 
rejoice before the Lord ; for he cometh ; for he cometh 
to judge the earth : he shall judge the world with 
righteousness, and the people with his truth." This 
shows that the reign of Christ on earth is to be the 
judgment of the world. Once more, Psalm lxvii. 4-7, " 
let the nations be glad and sing for joy : for thou shalt 
judge the world righteously, and govern the nations 
upon earth. Let the people praise thee, God ; let all 
the people praise thee. Then shall the earth yield her 
increase : and God, even our God, shall bless us. God 
shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear 
him." Here the judgment of the world is identified 
with the government of the nations upon earth. Indeed 
all these Psalms, and many others, which might be 
quoted if our space allowed, in which the judgment of 
the world is predicted, and which agree with the Apos- 
tle's declaration that "God has appointed a day in which 

he will JUDGE THE WORLD IN RIGHTEOUSNESS by that 

man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given 
assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from 
the dead," show that that judgment is to be the righteous 
administration of law in a kingdom to be established 
upon this earth at his coming, to which all nations will 



AND FROM ISAIAH. 271 

be subject, and which will be a source of great joy 
to all. 

Isaiah bears a similar testimony respecting the govern- 
ment of Christ over the nations, and the happy effects 
of his judgment. Isa. ii. 4 : "And he shall judge among 
the nations, and shall rebuke many people ; and they 
shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their 
spears into pruning-hooks ; nation shall not lift up 
sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any 
more." Again, Isa. ix. 6, 7 : "For unto us a child is 
born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall 
be upon his shoulder : and his name shall be called 
Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Father of 
the everlasting age, and the Prince of peace. Of the 
increase of his government and peace there shall be no 
end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to 
order it and to establish it with judgment and with jus- 
tice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord 
of hosts shall perform this." Again, Isa. xi. 1-9 : "And 
there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, 
and a branch shall grow out of his roots ; and the spirit 
of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom 
and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the 
spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord ; and 
shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the 
Lord ; and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, 
neither reprove after the hearing of his ears : but with 
righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with 
equity for the meek of the earth ; and he shall smite the 
earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of 
his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness 
shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the 
girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the 
lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid ; and 
the calf and the young lion and the fatling together ; and 



272 ETERNAL JUDGMENT. 

a little child shall lead them. And the cow and bear 
shall feed : their young ones shall lie down together, and 
the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking 
child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned 
child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's den. They 
shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain : for 
the earth shall be fall of the knowledge of the Lord, as 
the waters cover the sea." 

These predictions, and there are many more of like 
import in all the prophets, show that the reign of Christ 
on the earth is to be the time when he shall judge the 
nations, and that this judgment will be continuous, or 
what is called in my text "eternal judgment." And 
Paul says, " that Jesus Christ shall judge the quick and 
dead at his appearing and his kingdom." 2 Tim. iv. 1. 
From which we learn that the judgment will be con- 
tinuous from the time of his appearing through his whole 
mediatorial reign, until every knee shall bow, and every 
tongue confess to God. And this judgment shall extend 
over the quick or living, i. e., those in natural flesh, who 
shall then live on the earth; and also over the dead, 
whose spirits will still be in the hidden state. 

The term eternal does not in itself, as used in the 
scriptures signify time without end ; and has that signifi- 
cation only when applied to the Divine existence or such 
things as are destined in his purpose to unending dura- 
tion. The Greek adjective atovtuv is derived from atov, 
an age, and imports duration through an age, or for an 
entire dispensation. The a-lam of the Hebrew language 
has a like signification, and is applied to denote duration 
through some fixed or settled period, as the Jubilee, or 
a dispensation, as the Mosaic, the Christian, &c. And 
the terms eternal and forever being used in our English 
version of the Bible for the former, are of the same sig- 
nification. In this connection the word eternal is applied 



ETERNAL JUDGMENT. 2T3 

to a period beginning with the first resurrection and 
extending through the Millennium down to the end or 
grand consummation of the scheme of redemption, when 
the whole of raaifkind shall be delivered from the do- 
minion of death and subjected to the righteous govern- 
ment of God ; including whatever events of a judicial 
character may be visited upon the nations at the end of 
this age to subdue them to his sceptre — whatever rule or 
government he may establish over the quick and the 
dead during his millennial reign — whatever punishments 
may be necessary to subdue and control them ; and what- 
ever disposition he may finally make of them, according 
to the infinite rectitude and benevolence of his nature 
and government. All this is embraced in the term 
judgment in our text ; and the time allotted to its accom- 
plishment is the entire period of Christ's Messianic 
reign, from whence it is called eternal judgment, i. e. 
judgment continuing during that age or dispensation. 

In this Judgment the saints will participate after being 
changed and glorified ; for Daniel shows that, when the 
Ancient of days comes to destroy the body of the beast, 
and to consume the little horn, then judgment shall be 
given to the saints and they shall possess the kingdom. 
And Paul in rebuking the Corinthians for going to law 
before worldly magistrates, says, "Do ye not know 
that the saints shall judge the world V by which he inti- 
mates that this was a trite subject, and one that they 
ought not to be ignorant of. And Jude says, that even 
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied that the 
saints should come with the Lord at his appearing to 
judge the world. And in the Old Testament, there is 
frequent reference made to the subjection of all people 
to the saints, and to their inheriting the earth. In 
Psalm xxxvii. repeated declaration is made that the 
saints or the righteous shall inherit the earth ; which 
18 



274 THE NATIONS SCBDUED. 

inheritance includes the government of the world. In 
Psalm xlv. Christ's arrows, i. e. his words, are sharp in 
the hearts of the king's enemies ; whereby the people 
fall under thee. And in Psalm xlvii. : "0 clap yonr 
hands, all ye people, shout unto God with the voice 
of triumph. For the Lord most high is terrible ; he is 
a great king over all the earth, he shall subdue the 
people under us, and the nations under our feet. He 
shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of 
Jacob, whom he loved (or rather, which he desired, i. e. 
which Jacob desired or earnestly coveted). God is gone 
up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. 
Sing praises to God, sing praises ; sing praises to our 
king, sing praises ; for God is the king of all the earth, 
sing ye praises with understanding. God reigneth over 
the heathen ; God sitteth upon the throne of his holi- 
ness. The princes of the people are gathered together, 
the people of the God of Abraham ; for the shields of the 
earth belong unto God: he is greatly exalted." And 
this is said of Christ, who in Psalm xlv. is addressed thus : 
"Thy throne God is forever and ever; the sceptre of thy 
kingdom is a right sceptre." Now Paul says : If ye are 
Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according 
to the promise ; so that the saints are the princes of the 
people of Abraham, under whom Christ will subdue the 
people, and subject the nations. Hence in Rev. ii. 
26-28, he says : " And he that overcometh and keepeth 
my works unto the end, to him will I give power over 
the nations ; (and he shall rule them with a rod of iron : 
as the vessel of a potter shall they be broken in shivers ;) 
even as I have received of my father. And I will give 
him the morning star." And in Psalm cxlix. 6-9, we 
read, " Let the saints be joyful in glory : let them sing 
aloud upon their couches (royal seats) : let the high 
praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged 



REIGN OF THE SAINTS. 275 

sword in their hand ; to execute vengeance upon the 
heathen, and punishments upon the people ; to bind their 
kings with chains^jind their nobles with fetters of iron ; 
to execute upon them the judgment written. This honor 
have all the saints." And to the disciples Christ said, 
that in the regeneration or renewing of all things, when 
he should sit on the throne of his glory, they also 
should sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes 
of Israel. And in Isaiah xxxii. 1, 16-18, it is said: 
"Behold a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes 
shall decree judgment. Then judgment shall dwell in 
the wilderness, and righteousness shall remain in the 
fruitful field. And the work of righteousness shall be 
peace ; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and 
assurance forever. And my people shall dwell in peacea- 
ble habitations, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet rest- 
ing places." 

Hence we learn that, whatever inequalities may seem 
now to obtain in the divine government over the world, 
are unavoidable upon a plan of probation such as this 
is ; and this is the best possible moral system : yet they 
shall all be finally adjusted in a coming dispensation of 
righteous government, in which every work shall be 
brought into judgment, and every secret thing, whether 
it be good or evil. 



DISCOURSE TWENTY-THIRD 



MILLENNIUM APPLIES TO THE REIGN OF CHRIST FOR 
ONE THOUSAND YEARS.— ITS COMMENCEMENT- 
END OF WORLDLY RULE OR GOVERNMENT— SUB- 
JECTION OF THE NATIONS— EXPLICATION OF 
TEXT— PROMISES— GOVERNMENT OF THE SEC- 
OND ADAM— NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH- 
SUBJECTS— MELCHIZEDECK'S KINGDOM A TYPE. 
—ISRAEL'S SPECIAL PRIVILEGES. 



And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of 
the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold 
on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and 
bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, 
and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive 
the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled ; and 
after that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones, 
and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them ; even 
(kxi) the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, 
and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, 
neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their fore- 
heads, or in their hands : and they lived and reigned with Christ a 
thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the 
thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed 
and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the 
second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and 
of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. — Rev. 
xx. 1-G. 

The word millennium signifies a thousand years. It 
does not in itself signify any particular thousand, but by 
use it has come to be restricted in its application to the 
period specified in ray text, in which Christ and his 
saints are to reign on the earth. It has been a query 
with some whether the term should not be considered 
prophetically as including a thousand years of years, or 

(2*6) 



MILLENNIUM. 2Y7 

360,000 years.* But I am persuaded that a thousand 
years is all that is intended, inasmuch as the same period 
is called a day. Zech. xiv. 9 : " And the Lord shall be 
king over all the~earth ; in that day there shall be one 
Lord and his name one." And Peter says that "one 
day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand 
years as one day." 2 Pet. iii. 8. Hence, Barnabas, a 
Christian writer of the first century, in his epistle says, 
11 And God made in six days the work of his hands, and 
he finished them on the seventh day, and he rested in it 
and sanctified it. Children consider what that signifies, 
he finished them in six days. This it signifies, that the 
Lord will finish all things in six thousand years ; as he 
himself, testifieth, saying 'Behold this day shall be as a 
thousand years.' Therefore, children, in six days, that 
is in six thousand years, shall all things be consummated. 
And he rested the seventh day : this signifies that when 
his son shall come, and shall abolish the season of the 
wicked one, and shall change the sun, and the moon, and 
the stars, then shall he rest gloriously in that seventh 
day. 1 '' And in the second century, other Christian 
writers say, "that all believers in Christ shall be raised 
at the end of six thousand years, and wickedness being 
banished from the earth, they shall live and reign with 

* Mr. David N. Lord in his work on the Apocalypse, regards the 
thousand years as a symbol of 360,000 years. I think he errs in 
this, on his own principles of interpretation. For he regards the 
dragon as really the Devil, representing himself and his subordinate 
angels. The angel he regards as a symbol of angels. So also 
those who sat on thrones are the saints, exhibited in their own 
persons, because there could be found no symbol of an analogous 
character in any other department to represent them. Why then 
may not the thousand years be a symbol of a thousand years, inas- 
much as it is to be the time of their reign ] It appears to me that 
this would follow of course. 



278 MILLENNIUM. 

Christ in Jerusalem, rebuilt, adorned, and enlarged. 
And that as many as were oiihodox in all respects did 
so acknowledge." The Millennium then designates a 
period yet to come of which prophets have spoken and 
poets have sung in their sublimest strains ; a period to 
which the eye of faith has been directed, as the times 
of the restitution of all things — a period in which mercy 
and truth shall meet together, and righteousness and 
peace shall mutually embrace each other — in which the 
earth shall be redeemed from the curse, and the nations 
from oppression — in which Christ, as the son of David, 
and his glorified saints, shall reign over all the earth ; and 
which being the last mediatorial dispensation to men in 
natural flesh, shall result in the subjection of every foe, 
and the reconciliation of all things to God. 

The commencement of this period will be coeval with 
the seventh millennary from creation ; for as Barnabas 
says, the six days' work signify six millennaries, in which 
all things preparatory thereto shall be finished : and the 
seventh day signifies the seventh millennary, in which he 
will rest gloriously. And Paul, in his letter to the 
Hebrews, iv. 9, shows as much, quoting the words "And 
God did rest the seventh day from all his works ;" and 
says, " There remaineth therefore a rest (a sabbatism) to 
the people of God." Now if our common chronology 
be correct, it is nearly one hundred and fifty years yet 
before the seventh millennary begins. But it is probable 
that there is some mistake in chronology ; for it is ob- 
vious that we are now living in an advanced stage of the 
sixth vial period, during which the Lord will come as a 
thief to take his saints out of the earth, which I have 
shown will probably be forty years or more previous to 
his personal appearing with his saints at the sounding 
of the seventh trumpet, and pouring out of the seventh 
vial, which import the events introductory to the Mil- 



DRAGON BOUND. 2T9 

lennium ; when " the kingdom of the world shall be our 
Lord's and his Christ's, and he shall reign forever and 
ever." Rev. xi. 15. Not indeed that the events intro- 
ductory to the Millennium will expend the period of the 
seventh trumpet, and seventh vial ; far this probably 
extends beyond the Millennium, and reaches to the final 
accomplishment of the Divine purposes ; but that these 
events may require some years for their completion; 
comprising the judgment of the nations as set forth in 
Mat. xxv. 31 — and explained in a former discourse — 
the complete overthrow and destruction of the worldly 
powers symbolized by the scarlet colored beast, and the 
ecclesiastical powers supported thereby, as set forth in 
Rev. xix. 11-21, already explained; and is consum- 
mated by the binding of the dragon, or the suppression 
of all earthly rule and power in opposition to Christ, as 
set forth in our text, whereby the Devil will be deprived 
of any political embodiment through which to work, and 
will be restricted to such means of fraud and wickedness 
as the carnal minds of unregenerate men may enable him 
to practice. 

John says, "And I saw an angel come down from 
heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great 
chain in his hand." This angel is a symbol of the agency 
by which the governments of this earth are to be de- 
stroyed and all earthly power and rule effectually sup- 
pressed, and that agency will be the saints to whom the 
kingdom under the whole heaven is to be given, and who 
"shall bind their kings in chains and their princes in 
fetters of iron." Psl. cxlix. 8* "And he laid hold on 
the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil and 
Satan, and bound him a thousand years." The Dragon 
here is the same as that seen in the vision of the twelfth 
chapter, warring with Michael and his angels ; being 
now deprived of the political embodiment through which 



280 BOTTOMLESS PIT. 

he had worked, in the destruction of the scarlet colored 
beast, he appears in his own person as the representative 
of all powers, civil and ecclesiastical, opposed to Christ 
and his reign. His being bound with a chain denotes 
the restraint which will be put upon those powers, and 
the thousand years represent the period of the reign of 
Christ and his saints, during which they will be re- 
strained. " And cast him into the bottomless pit, and 
shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should 
deceive the nations no more/ till the thousand years 
should be fulfilled ; and after that he must be loosed a 
little season." The bottomless pit is a symbol of deep, 
secret, unknown, or unmanifested fraud and wickedness, 
called in chap. ii. 29, the depths or abyss of Satan. The 
key to open this abyss would be any system of civil or 
ecclesiastical polity, embodying itself in church or state 
form, as the Alcoran, the key of the Mohammedan impos- 
ture. And a key to close the abyss must be such a 
manifestation of a Divine purpose in a civil and ecclesi- 
astical form, as will effectually restrain all such mani- 
festations of fraud and wickedness. Now as the saints 
of God will be revealed in that day as the only true 
church of God, and to them will be given the king- 
dom under the whole heaven, so the key to close the 
bottomless pit is seen to be given to the angel, who 
symbolizes them in the vision. The dragon being cast 
into this pit and shut up, &c, signifies that the wicked 
powers thus symbolized will be effectually restrained from 
all open forms or organizations of a political or ecclesi- 
astical character during the Millennium. There will be, 
no doubt, among the nations of the earth, during the 
Millennium, many persons who will be in heart opposed 
to the reign of Christ and his saints; but no open, 
ostensible disobedience to the laws of the kingdom will 
be permitted ; and the wickedness in the heart, secret 



RESTRAINTS ON THE WICKED. 281 

and unmanifested, is that represented by the abyss or 
bottomless pit to which Satan will be confined. The 
Psalmist says of the wicked, "both the inward thought 
of every one of ikem and the heart is deep," that is the 
secret counsels and deceitful designs of the wicked is as 
a deep pit — an abyss — a depth of Satan, who works in 
the hearts of the children of disobedience. And in this 
abyss the dragon will be shut up during the thousand 
years, but at the termination of that period he will be 
loosed a little season : the restraint will be removed for 
a time. 

The restraints which will be put upon all such mani- 
festations of wickedness are the subjects of prophecy : 
thus in Isa. lxvi. 18-20, the Lord says, "It shall come 
that I will gather all nations and tongues : and they 
shall come and see my glory : And I will set a sign 
among them, and I will send those that escape of them 
(i. e. of the armies which came against Jerusalem) to 
the nations Tarshish, Pull, and Lud, that draw the bow, 
Tubal and Javan, the isles afar off, that have not heard 
of my fame, neither have seen my glory ; and they shell 
declare my glory among the gentiles. And they shall 
bring all your brethren (all Israel) for an offering unto 
the Lord, out of all nations to my holy mountain, Jeru- 
salem." And in Zech. xiv. 16-19, he says, "And it 
shall come to pass that every one that is left of all the 
nations which came against Jerusalem, shall even go up 
from year to year to worship the king, the Lord of hosts, 
and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be 
that whoso will not come up of all the families of the 
earth unto Jerusalem, to worship the king, the Lord of 
hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the 
family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no 
rain; there shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will 
smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast 



232 REIGN OF THE SAINTS. 

of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt 
and the punishment of all nations that come not up to 
keep the feast of tabernacles." By these and other 
means, he will in due time bring all into willing subjec- 
tion to his sway, and so "establish his dominion from 
sea to sea, and from the rivers unto the ends of the 
earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow 
before him ; and his enemies shall lick the dust. The 
kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents ; 
the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all 
kings shall fall down before him ; all nations shall serve 
him." Psl. Ixxii. 8-11. Then God will give to his Son 
the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts 
of the earth for his possession. He shall break them 
with a rod of iron, he shall dash them in pieces like a 
potter's vessel. Be wise now, therefore, ye kings, and 
be instructed ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord 
with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Sou, lest 
he be angry and ye perish from the way, when his wrath 
is kindled but a little. "For then the Son of Man shall 
send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his 
kingdom all things that offend and them that do iniquity, 
and shall cast them into a furnace of fire ; there shall 
be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the 
righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their 
Father." Mat. xiii. 41-43. 

Then shall the Millennium commence, and hence the 
revelator proceeds, "And I saw thrones." By Psalm 
cxxii. we find that Jerusalem is the place of the thrones 
of judgment : " Jerusalem is builded as a city that is 
compact together ; whither the tribes go up, the tribes 
of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel to give thanks 
to the name of the Lord ; for there are set thrones of 
judgment, the thrones of the house of David." "And 
they sat on them, and judgment was given unto them." 



REIGN OF THE SAINTS. 283 

To whom ! Daniel tells us that he beheld till the thrones 
were cast down, and the Ancient of days came, and judg- 
ment was given to the saints of the most high, and the 
time came that tluTsaints possessed the kingdom. Dan. 
vii. 9, 22. And John describes those who sat on the 
thrones, and to whom judgment was given, saying : 
" Even the souls of them that were beheaded for the 
witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which 
had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither 
had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their 
hands." I have left out the words "I saw," in this 
clause, not being found in the original, and I have ren- 
dered xai, even, which is required by the sense of the 
passage, and justified by use. The reading then is, "And 
I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, even the souls 
of them," &c. The term soul signifies "all that consti- 
tutes the essential person," i. e. the body and spirit in 
vital union, and hence is a suitable term to use in speak- 
ing of persons who had risen from the dead. Here it 
applies to the raised and glorified saints and martyrs of 
Jesus. " And they lived and reigned with Christ a 
thousand years." This implies their having been dead, 
for they were beheaded, &c. And hence their living 
again is called " the first resurrection" in distinction 
from the resurrection of the rest of the dead who lived 
not again until the thousand years were ended. Paul 
says also, that the dead in Christ shall rise first; and 
Daniel says, " Many of them that sleep in the dust of 
the earth shall awake ;" some of course will not awake. 
Here are two classes, the awakened and the non-awakened 
— the one class, those that awake, are "to everlasting 
life," and the other — the non-awakened — are "to shame 
and everlasting contempt." John says, "But the rest 
of the dead live not again until the Ihousnnd years were 
finished." By the "rest of the dead" is meant the 



284: PROMISES. 

wicked dead. The righteous dead were those seen sitting 
on thrones. "This is the first resurrection." The 
resurrection out of or from among the dead — the 
s^avaataacv tcav vtx$uv of Paul's earnest desire : Phil. 
3-11. For "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in 
the first resurrection ; on such the second death hath no 
power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, 
and shall reign with him a thousand years." It is not 
said that their reign will terminate at the close of that 
period ; on the contrary, the scriptures teach us that 
this kingdom shall have no end. It is only a certain 
phase of the kingdom which then ceases. Its Israelitish 
form will end ; but the dominion and government exer- 
cised by Christ and his saints will be perpetual. 

The following are some of the promises which ensure 
this kingdom to the saints, and hence point them out as 
the persons who shall sit on the thrones : " Blessed are 
the poor in spirit ; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 
Blessed are they that are persecuted for righteousness' 
sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Mat v. 3, 10. 
" Fear not little flock, for it is your Father's good 
pleasure to give you the kingdom." Luke xii. 32. "Ye 
are they who have continued with me in my temptations ; 
and I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath 
appointed unto me ; that ye may eat and drink at my 
table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the 
twelve tribes of Israel." Luke xxii. 28, 29. "Hearken, 
my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of 
this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which 
he hath promised to them that love him." James ii. 5. 
"For if ye do these things ye shall never fall ; for so an 
entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into 
the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
Christ." 2 Pet. i. 10, 11. " If we suffer, we shall also 
reign with him." 2 Tim. ii. 12. "And they sung a new 



THE CURSE REMOVED. 285 

song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and to 
open the seals thereof ; for thou wast slain and hast 
redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, 
and tongue, and people, and nation ; and hast made us 
unto our God kings and priests : and we shall reign on 
the earth." Rev. v. 9, 10. Here we have repeated 
promise made to the saints of a kingdom in which they 
are to have dominion and sit on thrones, and the earth 
is to be its locality. " Blessed are the meek, for they 
shall inherit the earth." Mat. v. 5. 

This millennial reign will be the realization of the 
original constitution of the world, under the government 
of the second Adam and the spiritual first-born. Then 
the curse will be removed from the earth, and instead of 
the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the 
brier shall come up the myrtle tree ; " and it shall be to 
the Lord for a name ; for an everlasting sign, that shall 
not be cut off." Isa. iv. 13. And God says, Isa. xli. 18, 
19, "I will open rivers in high places, and fountains 
in the midst of valleys ; I will make the wilderness a 
pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I 
will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, 
and the myrtle and the oil tree ; I will set in the desert 
the fir tree and the pine and the box together." Again 
Isa. lx. 13: "The glory of Lebanon shall come unto 
thee, the fir tree, the pine tree and the box together, to 
beauty the place of my sanctuary, and I will make the 
place of my feet glorious." Again, Amos ix. 13 : " Then 
the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader 
of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains 
shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt (flow)." 
Also Psl. lxxii. 16 : "There shall be a handful of corn in 
the earth on the top of the mountains, the fruit thereof 
shall shake like Lebanon." And Zech. viii. 11, 12: 
"But now I will not be unto the residue of the people 



286 SMMfttAL BLESSINGS. 

as in the former clays, saith the Lord of hosts. For the 
seed shall be prosperous ; the vine shall give her fruit, 
and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens 
shall give their dew." Once more, Isa. xXxv. 1 : "The 
•wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, 
and the desert shall blossom as the rose ; it shall blossom 
abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing." In 
such terms do the prophets depict the beauty and fertility 
of the earth in that coming day of blessedness and glory. 
But in connection with these, there will be also every 
spiritual and social good under the reign of the prince 
of peace. "Then they shall not teach every man his 
neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know the 
Lord : for they shall all know me, from the least of them 
to the greatest of them, saith the Lord : for I will for- 
give their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no 
more." Jer. xxxi. 34. "Knowledge, prudence, dili- 
gence and economy shall then preside; and of course, 
extravagance, waste, and all frivolous desires for the 
supply of fictitious wants will be exterminated. Covet- 
ousness will be exchanged for contentment ; vain and 
vicious pleasures will be swallowed up in Christian 
delight; pride will be led captive by humility." Then 
"they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their 
spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up 
sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any 
more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and 
under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid." 
Mic. iv. 3, 4, "And the inhabitant shall not say, I am 
sick : the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven 
their iniquity." Isa. xxxiii. 24. 

Isaiah describes this future kingdom in one of its 
aspects thus: "For behold I create new heavens and a 
new earth ; and the former shall not be remembered nor 
come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice forever in 



SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS. 287 

that which I create ; for behold I create Jerusalem a 
rejoicing and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in 
Jerusalem and joy in my people : and the voice of weep- 
ing shall be ncfmore heard in her nor the voice of crying. 
There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an 
old man that hath not filled his days : for the child shall 
die a hundred years old, but the sinner being a hundred 
years old shall be accursed. And they shall build houses 
and inhabit them ; and they shall plant vineyards and 
eat the fruit of them. They shall not build and another 
inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for as 
the days of a tree shall be the days of my people, and 
mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. 
They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble, 
for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord and their 
offspring with them. And it shall come to pass that 
before they call I will answer ; and while they are yet 
speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed 
together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock ; 
and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not 
hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the 
Lord." Isa. lxv. 17-25. 

This coincides with the description given in Rev. xxi. 
1-5. " And I saw a new heaven and a new earth ; for 
the first heaven and the first earth were passed away ; 
and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy 
city New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of 
heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 
And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold 
the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell 
with them, and they shall lie his people, and God himself 
shall be with them, and shall be their God. And God 
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; and there shall 
be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither 
shall there be any more pain ; for the former things are 



288 THE SYMBOL CITY. 

passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, 
Behold I make all things new." This is a symbolic 
description of the saints as constituting the polity of that 
new heaven and new earth, as a city which is still further 
described as "having the glory of God and no temple 
therein ; for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are 
the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun 
or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God did 
lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the 
nations of them that are saved shall walk in the light of 
it ; and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and 
honor into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at 
all by day, for there is no night there. And they shall 
bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. And 
there shall no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, 
neither whatsoever worketh abomination nor maketh a 
lie, but they who are written in the Lamb's book of life." 
vv. 11, 22-2?. 

Here the saints as kings and priests are symbolized by 
the city; for Christ says of them, "ye are a city set 
upon a hill, a light which cannot be hid ;" and "ye are 
the light of the world." The nations of them that are 
saved, are those who shall escape the judgment of the 
last days and be made subjects of the kingdom, who 
living under the beneficent reign of the saints are said to 
walk in the light of that city. And all the glory and 
honor of the nations shall accrue to the saints under 
Christ, who will make them heirs of the kingdom with 
himself. Isaiah's description is chiefly applicable to the 
subjects of the kingdom, and more particularly to the 
Jews during the Millennium ; while that of John may 
be regarded as extending, in some of its features, to the 
consummation of that period, and the subjection and 
reconciliation of all things to God, when the physical 



STATE OF NATURAL ISRAEL. 289 

transformations will be completed and the earth restored 
to its pristine state. 

Of the millennial reign of Christ the kingdom of 
Melchizdec waTa type. Christ will be a king-priest, and 
peace and righteousness shall be the characteristics of 
his government. The mystical Shem, i. e. the saints 
of God, shall be blessed with Christ the Lord God 
of Shem, and reign in life with him forever. The 
mystical Japhet, the peaceful and righteous subjects, 
shall enjoy a state of subordinate glory and enlargement, 
dwelling in the tents of Shem ; and the mystical Ham, 
the wicked and ungodly enemies of Christ, shall be sub- 
jected to such restraints as shall make them willing to 
serve. 

The thousand years reign will also be the realization 
of the special privileges and glory promised to the 
natural seed of Israel. Ezekiel in his prophecy, from 
the fortieth chapter to the end, gives us a particular 
description of their various orders — the divisions of the 
land according to its enlarged boundaries among the 
twelve tribes — the portion for the sanctuary and the 
prince, the temple and its services, the city and its 
suburbs. "And the name of the city from that day 
shall be Jehovah Shammah, the Lord is there." "For 
the children of Israel shall abide many days without a 
king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and 
without an image, and without an ephod, and without a 
teraphim. Afterward shall the children of Israel re- 
turn, and seek the Lord their God and David their king ; 
and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter 
days." Hos. iii. 4, 5. This is anticipated in Psalm cii. 
13-22. " Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion ; 
for the time to favor her, yea the set time is come : for 
thy servants take pleasure in her stones and favor the 
dust thereof : So the heathen shall fear the name of the 
19 



290 THE LAND OF PEOMISE. 

Lord ; and all the kings of the earth thy glory. When 
the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his 
glory. He will regard the prayer of the destitute, 
and not despise their prayer. This shall be written for 
the generation to come : and the people which shall be 
created shall praise the Lord, For he hath looked 
down from the height of his sanctuary ; from heaven 
did the Lord behold the earth: to hear the groaning 
of the prisoners ; to loose those that are apppointed 
to death ; to declare the name of the Lord in Zion 
and his praise in Jerusalem. When the people are 
gathered together and the kingdoms to serve the Lord." 
Then the land of Israel will be the fairest and most 
fertile of all lands, the Eden of earth — the garden of the 
Lord. The sanctuary of the Lord will be in the midst 
of it, and his throne in Jerusalem. For the tabernacle 
of God shall be with men, and he shall dwell with them. 
And they shall be his people, and he will be their God. 
And "there shall he cause them that come of Jacob to 
take root. Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the 
face of the world with fruit." Isa. xxvii, 6. 

" Israel, arise ! stand forth ! thy light is come, 
The glory of the Lord is risen on thee ; 
And though long hanished from thy favored home, 
Thou 'rt still beloved of God : thou shalt be free. 

Zion, awake, awake ! put on thy strength ; 

Deck thee in beauty, as in days of old: 
Thy cup of fury is wrung out at length ; 

Thy day of trembling none shall more behold. 

Arise, Jerusalem ! unbind thy chains; 

Oh, captive daughter ! lift thy head on high ; 
Thy king of glory in effulgence reigns, 

And nations gather 'neath thy bright'ning sky." 



DISCOURSE TWENTY-FOURTH. 



THE LAST REBELLION.— SATAN LOOSED— TILE DE- 
CEIVED — THEIR CONSPIRACY — INVASION OF PA- 
LESTINE—THEIR DESTRUCTION— THE FAITHFUL 
MILLENNARIANS REWARDED— THE GREAT HOUSE. 



And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed 
out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations, which are 
in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them 
together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 
And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the 
camp of the saints about, and the beloved city : and fire came down 
from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that 
deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where 
the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and 
night for ever and ever. — Rev. xx. 7-10. 

This portion of scripture lias proved very perplexing 
to many, who wonder why the old serpent, after being a 
thousand years chained in the abyss, should be permitted 
to go forth among the peaceful subjects of Christ's king- 
dom, and seduce the nations through his deceptions to 
rebellion and revolt. I think, after a scriptural view of 
this predicted rebellion, it will be seen that the whole 
procedure is in accordance with the principles of the 
Divine government, and that every doubt of the beiievo* 
lence and rectitude of the Supreme Ruler of the world 
will be removed. 

Satan signifies an adversary. It is a Hebrew word, 
and may be applied to any opponent of the truth. 
Hence when Peter proposed to Christ an earthly and 
sensual policy, in opposition to the plan of God, Jesus 
said unto him, " Get thee behind me, Satan, thou art an 
offense unto me : for thou savorest not of the things that 

(291) 



292 SATAN THE EVIL ONE 

be of God, but those that be of men." The word is 
used as a proper name to designate that evil spirit, by 
whose subtlety and guile our first parents were seduced 
to disobedience and revolt, and who is supposed to be 
the chief of the fallen angels. This evil one has by his 
deceptions induced nations to deny God, and rulers to 
renounce his claims ; and has used the worldly organiza- 
tions, both civil and religious, as his tools in governing 
the world, and carrying on his opposition against God. 
Hence the master symbol of earthly despotisms is called 
the Dragon — being an embodiment of the principles and 
designs of the old serpent, who is called the Devil and 
Satan. And though new forms of worldly power arise, 
as symbolized by the beast from the sea, Rev. xiii. 1, 
and the scarlet colored beast, Rev. xvii. 3, yet their 
identity with the dragon is clearly seen ; and the old 
serpent is the spirit which pervades them all, and works 
through them all. In the victories of Constantine, by 
which the Pagan idolatrous power, that had previously 
warred against the Church of God, was overthrown, 
the dragon is said to have been cast out into the earth 
only : i. e. he was ejected from the political ascendency 
in the empire, but left still to work his machinations 
among the nations and to practice his deceptions ; and 
we have seen how successfully he did it in raising up the 
papal idolatrous power in the place of the pagan, and 
giving to the beast from the sea his power and seat and 
great authority. But when Christ comes and destroys 
the beast and false prophet, and puts down all rule, and 
authority, and power, and subjects all nations to his 
sway, then the civil and ecclesiastical powers which 
were the embodiment of the dragon being completely 
overthrown, he is said to be cast into the bottomless pit, 
or abyss, and the nations are no longer deceived by the 
lure of worldly dominion and power. In consequence 



RESTRAINED. 293 

also he is said to be chained and imprisoned. The pre- 
sence of "Christ and his saints, and their manifest glory 
and power, with-the means made use of to keep all in 
peaceful subjection, will hold every heart in check, and 
for a thousand years effectually suppress any disposition 
to oppose his sway or rebel against him. For the 
openly disobedient will after a suitable period of trial 
be cut off, as it is written : " And it shall come to pass 
that every soul who will not hear that prophet (Christ) 
shall be destroyed from among the people." This is to 
be in the times of the restitution of all things, when 
God shall send Jesus again to earth the second time : 
Acts iii. 23. And Isaiah, speaking of the same period, 
says : " The sinner being a hundred years old shall be 
accursed." This is to be in the new heavens and new 
earth. From hence we learn that during the Millennium 
there may be disobedient individuals, who for their con- 
tinued obstinacy and rebellion will be cut off, though 
they will be spared till they are a hundred years old 
that they may repent. Open rebellion will be thus 
effectually suppressed, and all combinations of the wicked 
prevented during the Millennium, so Satan will be shut 
up in the abyss or depth of the secret wickedness of 
human hearts ; and there, though restrained and con- 
fined, he will still work, for many, as the event clearly 
shows, while yielding an external obedience to the 
government of Christ and his saints, will be in heart 
secretly opposed to it ; though afraid to mention their 
disaffection to one another. For during the Millennium 
the population of the earth will be greatly increased, as 
there will be no deaths in infancy, " no more thence an 
infant of days," nor any deaths among such as obey the 
government, " nor an old man that hath not filled his 
days," i. e. the period of the thousand years : only the 
sinner or transgressor shall be cut off, and he not till a 



294 SATAN LOOSED, 

hundred years old, and shall then be regarded as a child 
on account of the longevity of the people. The tenden- 
cies of human nature will be still the same : and though 
the gracious influences of that dispensation will act 
powerfully on the mind and heart, they will not be irre- 
sistible. The freedom of the human will must remain 
untouched, for an involuntary obedience is no obedience 
at all. And holiness of heart is not to be produced by 
power or compelled by external circumstances. Again, 
obedience though voluntary must be sincere, that it may 
be acceptable ; and must be founded in love, and not 
inspired only by fear. Man, and all intelligences, under 
every dispensation of God's government, must be treated 
as moral agents ; and to prove the sincerity and test the 
obedience of such it is necessary that the restraints which 
compel external obedience should be removed, and both 
good and evil be set before them, 'that the mind, left to 
choose for itself, may act according to its inclinations 
and desires. In this way man is tried and proved. 
Thus God proved Israel of old by leading them forty 
years in the wilderness, and subjecting them to various 
trials that he might humble them and prove them, to 
know what was in their heart, and whether they would 
voluntarily keep his commandments or no. And in all 
ages mankind have been tried and proved, that their 
character may he formed and developed ; and that the 
equity and justice of God may be seen and vindicated in 
the rewards and punishments to be administered here- 
after. The Millennarians will not be exempt from a 
trial which will effectually develop their character ; they 
will form no exception to the general rule. They must 
be tried ; and for this purpose Satan will be loosed out 
of his prison for a little season at the end of the thousand 
years. He will be permitted to make an open demon- 
stration against Christ and his saints. Those restraints 



TO TRY THE NATIONS. 295 

which prevented such a combination during the Millen- 
nium will be removed, and he will go forth from the 
depths of hidden wickedness in the hearts of men, to 
deceive the nations again : to cause them to err by the 
lure of worldly dominion and power ; to gather them 
together, in opposition to Christ and his saints ; and to 
revive again a system of earthly rule and government, 
that in such an embodiment of worldly rulers he might 
regain the dominion of earth and wrest the sceptre from 
Christ. He once promised the kingdoms of the world 
and the glory of them to Christ, in the days of his humi- 
liation on condition of his doing him reverence ; and 
then he will offer it to the disaffected Millennarians, and 
make them believe that there is a possibility of over- 
throwing Christ's government and seizing upon the 
kingdom for themselves. Those who will be tried in 
this way will be the subjects of Christ's government, 
born during the Millennium, who will have become in 
number as the sands of the sea. And the design of per- 
mitting it will be to prove the allegiance of these sub- 
jects to the Divine government. It will not be to make 
them wicked ; but to develop their wickedness : to let 
them manifest the disaffection of their hearts, that the 
justice of their punishment might not be questioned. 
Those of the Millennarians who shall withstand the 
temptation will doubtless be confirmed in uprightness 
and receive a corresponding reward in the kingdom of 
Christ, while such as are seduced by the evil one will 
meet with immediate and sore punishment. 

Those who shall then be led into rebellion by the 
devil are called Gog and Magog, the same name that is 
given by Ezekiel to the collective forces of the beast and 
false prophet and their allies, who shall go up against 
the restored Jews prior to the Millennium. It is very 
evident, however, that they are not the same people ; 



296 THE TIME OF THE TRIAL. 

but inasmuch as they are deceived and led on by the 
same evil spirit, and are to be combined together for a 
like intent, they are called by the same name. The four 
quarters of the earth refer to the countries to the east, 
west, north and south of Palestine, and very probably 
extend all around the globe; for this deception seems to 
be of a general character, as indeed it is necessary it 
should be for the trial of all. This rebellion therefore 
will comprise some of all nations except the Jews, who 
will be firm in their allegiance to God, and to Jesus 
their King, and will nobly withstand the allurements of 
Satan. It may be some years after the restraints are 
removed, and the devil finds opportunity to practice his 
frauds in deceiving the nations, before this rebellion will 
come to its height. It is called a little season, but the 
term probably comprehends a number of years. It is 
probable that when their plans are matured, they will 
select the Feast of Tabernacles as the time for striking 
the blow. At that time the faithful Millennarians having 
gone up in obedience to the Lord to worship at Jerusa- 
lem, the disobedient remaining behind will be prompted 
to make an effort to overthrow Christ's government, and 
to this end will seize upon whatever might serve them 
as weapons of war, and march simultaneously upon the 
breadth of the whole earth ; thus compassing the camp 
of the saints, which will probably include all the land 
of Palestine, and the beloved city Jerusalem. 

At the close of the Millennium it is likely there will 
be no more sea ; for we suppose that certain physical 
forces will be put into operation at its commencement 
which will continue to work during that period, bringing 
back the earth from its present broken and divided state 
to that of its original unity, beauty, and perfection ; and 
that the land will gradually encroach upon the sea until 
the shores meet, or are only separated by limpid streams 



THE REBELS DESTROYED. 297 

of pure and wholesome water, gently gliding through the 
fertile plains and valleys toward the poles, or being 
absorbed by the land. For he who said in the begin- 
ning, "Let the waters be gathered together into one 
place and let the dry land appear;" who founded the 
earth upon the seas and established it upon the floods, 
can as easily put into operation certain forces by which 
to restore it to its paradisaical state, at which time, 
according to scripture intimations, the earth presented 
an unbroken surface, encompassing the globe like a belt, 
while the waters filled up the centre, and appeared only 
at the poles. To some such condition it seems the earth 
will have been restored when Gog and Magog shall come 
up on the face of the whole earth. 

But it does not appear that their hostile invasion will 
excite any alarm or create any uneasiness in the minds 
of the saints ; or even in the hearts of the devout and 
faithful worshipers who will be congregated at the be- 
loved city to pay their annual tribute of praise to God, 
and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. All the 
faithful will abide in the shadow of the Almighty, and 
peacefully await the issue of this sad defection from 
righteousness, and of hostility against God. But, oh ! 
what an end it will be ! When they shall have collected 
their forces, and shall have come upon the very borders 
of the Holy Land, and shall be in the very act of medi- 
tating an assault upon the camp of Jesus, then, sudden 
as the lightning's flash, the fiery torrent of wrath will 
fall upon them and utterly consume them. Their de- 
struction will be like that of Sodom and Gomorrah ; or 
like that of the captains and their companies who were 
sent to take Elijah the prophet, for " fire shall come 
down from God out of heaven and devour them." 
Perhaps the Psalmist refers prophetically to this event 
when he says, " Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, 



298 SATAN PUNISHED. 

fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest; this shall be 
the portion of their cup :" Psl. xi. 6. And Malachi 
says, " For behold the day cometh that shall burn as an 
oven ; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly 
shall be stubble ; and the day that cometh shall burn 
them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them 
neither root nor branch :" Mai. iii. 1. The number of 
them is said to be as the sand of the sea ; i. e. a very 
great multitude, perhaps amounting to many millions ; 
but, however numerous, they will all be thus suddenly 
consumed from the face of the earth. And wickedness 
shall no more lift up its head. 

It then follows, " And the devil that deceived them 
was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the 
beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented 
day and night forever and ever." This is the everlast- 
ing fire spoken of in Matt. xxv. 41, prepared for the 
devil and his angels, and in verse 46 called everlasting 
punishment. The wicked rulers, civil and ecclesiastical, 
symbolized by the beast and the false prophet, shall be 
consigned to this punishment at the beginning of the 
Millennium, and the devil will be cast into it at the ter- 
mination of this little season of deception and rebellion. 
The devil and his willing instruments must be punished 
together. 

Many persons will perhaps deem it absurd to suppose 
that any of the inhabitants of the earth would be so 
foolish as to think of overthrowing the government of 
Christ and his saints, and making war or battle with the 
Son of God : but let such remember that even the fallen 
angels are supposed to have rebelled against God in 
heaven ; and Adam and Eve disobeyed in paradise ; 
and the Israelites beneath the mount that burned with 
fire, made a molten calf and worshiped it. Other in- 
stances might be given of like folly and wickedness. 



CONCERNING THE REBELLION. 299 

But it is enough that the pen of inspiration has written 
these things. God, who sees the end from the begin- 
ning, tells us_£hat such will be the case. 

The reason why I think that the Jews will take no 
part in this rebellion, is, that the prophets testify that 
after their restoration and conversion to God, both they 
and their children will be steadfast with their God for- 
ever. And " they shall never more depart from him," 

I think this rebellion will be consummated at the time 
of the Feast of Tabernacles, because I find by Zech. xiv. 
16, 19, that it will be required of all nations to go up to 
Jerusalem year by year, to keep the Feast of Taber- 
nacles and to worship the King the Lord of hosts ; and 
that such as shall refuse to do so will be punished for 
their disobedience. And I hence infer that those who 
shall rebel at the close of the Millennium will manifest 
their rebellion, first, by refusing to go up to keep the 
feast, and, second, after the faithful have gone up, by 
gathering together to invade and overthrow the king- 
dom of Israel in the hands of Christ and his saints. 
This supposition seems to me consistent with scripture, 
and avoids the difficulties which oppose any other view 
of the case. 

The immediate occasion of this rebellion will be a 
change in the administration of the government of Christ 
at the termination of the thousand years — a change, not 
in its principles, but in its adaptation to the condition 
and circumstances of men — a change, which will present 
to the disaffected and ambitious an opportunity, in their 
estimation, of overthrowing Christ's kingdom, and estab- 
lishing a worldly empire in its place. What the exact 
nature of that change will be is nowhere expressly 
revealed. It will undoubtedly be in accordance with 
the Divine purpose of human redemption. And the 
trial to which it will expose the nations will be necessary 



300 DESTRUCTION BY FIRE. 

to confirm the sincere in their allegiance, as well as to 
manifest the insincere, and vindicate the Divine justice 
in their punishment. 

The reign of Christ and his saints will not terminate 
with the thousand years ; for we are expressly told that 
it shall have no end : nor will mediation then cease, for 
that must continue until all things are subdued and 
reconciled unto him : but it is probable that the change 
may concern the natural seed of Abraham, who may at 
that time be confirmed in their obedience, and exalted 
to a corresponding degree of glory. This may excite the 
envy of the unregenerate of the nations, blinded by 
Satan, so as to say in the language of Psalm ii. 3, " Let 
us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords 
from us. For as Isaiah says, " Let favor be showed to 
the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness ; in the 
land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not 
behold the majesty of the Lord. Lord, when thy hand 
is lifted up they will not see ; but they shall see and be 
ashamed, for their envy at the people : yea the fire of 
thine enemies shall devour them ;" or " yea, the fire 
shall burn up thine adversaries :" Isa. xxvi. 10, 11. 

Ever since the fall of man until now this proverb 
might be used, " The fathers have eaten sour grapes, 
and the children's teeth are set on edge ;" i. e. the chil- 
dren suffer for the sins of their parents ; but during the 
Millennium it will not be so ; then every one shall bear 
his own sin, and none but the guilty shall suffer. Hence 
the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed." 
And the punishment of such as will be cut off during the 
Millennium is referred to in Isa. Ixvi. 24, where it is 
written that " they that come to Jerusalem to worship 
before the Lord, shall go forth and look upon the car- 
casses of the men that have transgressed against the 
Lord: for their worm shall not die; neither shall their 



THE FAITHFUL REWARDED. 301 

fire be quenched ; and they shall be an abhorring unto 
all flesh." And at the close of the Millennium those 
whom Satan shall deceive will meet with a sore and 
dreadful punfsTiment. Their treason will be of the most 
malignant and impious form, and will be punished in 
the most dreadful manner — destroyed by consuming fire 
falling upon them from the atmosphere above their 
heads. 

Then the earth shall be purged from all wickedness ; 
all that offend and do wickedly shall be gathered out of 
his kingdom ; the faithful subjects of his government 
will be confirmed in allegiance to him, and exalted to 
such subordinate rank, glory and blessedness as God 
shall award to them for their fidelity, and shall shine 
forth as the sun in the kingdom of God. It is probable 
that their bodies will then be changed and made im- 
mortal ; and after that there will be none left on the 
earth in natural flesh, and the race will cease to be pro- 
pagated. All the faithful and obedient being changed ; 
all the unfaithful and disobedient being cut off. The 
heavenly hierarchy will then consist of Christ, as King 
of kings and Lord of lords — his saints, the church of the 
redeemed, the bride of the Lamb, coheirs and partners 
of his throne — and the faithful Millennarians as the 
virgins, companions of the bride, holding subordinate 
rank or office in the government uuder the saints. 

But Paul says that in every great house there are not 
only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and 
of earth : and some to honor and some to dishonor. 
If a man therefore purge himself from these — youthful 
lusts, &c. — he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified 
and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every 
good work : 2 Tim. ii. 20, 21. The saints of God, the 
church of the first born, will be the vessels of gold ; the 
saved of the Millennial dispensation will be the vessels 



802 CONCLUSION. 

of silver. These will be unto honor, though as star 4 
differeth from star, so will they differ in the degrees of 
glory which will be meted out to them. 

The way will then be prepared for the resurrection of 
the rest of the dead— the unjust— and for bringing them 
in as vessels of wood and of earth, unto dishonor, in 
their subjection to the government of the saints and 
their companions. For the grand result of the economy 
of redemption will be the subjection and reconciliation 
of all to God. 



DISCOURSE TWENTY-FIFTH. 



THE RESURRECTION OF THE UNJUST— THEIR JUDG- 
MENT—SECOND DEATH. 



And I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it, from 
tvhose face the earth and the heaven fled away ; and there was 
found no place for them. And I saw the dead small and great 
stand before God ; and the books were opened ; and another book 
was opened, which is the book of life : and the dead were judged 
out of those things, which were written in the books, according to 
their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it ; and 
death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them ; and 
they were judged, every man according to their works. And death 
and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast 
into the lake of fire.— Rev. xx. 1 1—15. 

The events symbolized by this vision, in the order of 
time, follow the last rebellion; but how long after is not 
revealed. It will probably require a considerable inter- 
val for the further modification of the physical and poli- 
tical state of things upon the earth, preparatory to this 
great and important measure in the Divine government. 
During this interval the faithful and approved of the 
millennial dispensation will, probably, be appointed to 
subordinate rank, under the saints, in the kingdom of 
Christ, as their reward, and will be marshalled in due 
order. And thus the way will be prepared for the 
events to which our attention is now directed, by this 
vision. 

During the Millennium and through the period of the 
last rebellion, up to the time of this vision, Christ will 
sit on the throne of David, and, as his Son and heir, 
reign as King of Israel by a Divine right. But this 

(303) 



304 JESUS THE JUDGE. 

feature of his administration will terminate with those 
ages, • when he shall deliver up the kingdom to God, 
even the Father: when he shall have put down all rule, 
and all authority and power." And then the Davidie 
or Messianic rule will be succeeded by a " great white 
throne," denoting a change in the nature and grounds 
of the administration, and a condition of far greater 
glory. Its whiteness indicates the infinite benevolence 
and rectitude of his government. " Justice and judg- 
ment are the habitation of thy throne ; mercy and truth 
shall go before thy face :." Pal. lxxxix. 14. 

The clause, " From whose face the earth and the 
heaven, fled away; and there was found no place for 
them," is descriptive simply, and designed to designate 
the person who sat on the great white throne : and 
shows that he is the same mentioned in former visions, 
at whose coming the heavens and the earth that now are 
shall pass away or be dissolved ; or in other words, who 
will change, at his coming, the physical and political 
state of things now existing ; breaking the great image 
of worldly governments to pieces, and making them as 
the dust of the summer threshing floor, before the wind ; 
and creating a new heaven, and a new earth, that is, a 
kingdom of righteousness and peace, which should fill 
the whole earth. See Dan. ii. 31-45, and Rev. vi. 12— 1Y. 
This description therefore shows that it will be Jesus 
who shall sit upon the great white throne, not as the 
Son of David, or King of Israel, for that kingdom or 
rule shall then be resigned to the Father ; but he will 
sit upon it as the Son of God, the representative of the 
Father; for " the Father judgeth no man, but hath 
committed all judgment to the Son, that all men should 
honor the Son, even as they honor the Father :" John vi. 
22, 23. And having thus become invested with all au- 
thority, he will proceed to another important act of judg- 



THE UNJUST RAISED. 305 

merit, or execution of judgment, in raising the rest of 
the dead. 

" And I saw the dead small and great stand before 
God." It must be remembered that the saints, having 
been raised previous to the Millennium, are not included 
in this resurrection. Being made kings and priests unto 
God, they will be associated with Christ in this judg- 
ment. Neither will the faithful subjects of the millen- 
nial dispensation be included ; for they being judged 
and approved of, at the close of that period, will be 
exalted to subordinate rank in the government of the 
world before this event takes place. This will be the 
resurrection of the unjust ; that is, of all who have died 
impenitent, both small and great. It will be the resur- 
rection of condemnation, in w'Lich all that have done 
evil shall come forth. That this is a literal resurrection 
is indicated by their standing " before God," which is 
in opposition to their lying down in the grave. Besides 
it is said that " the sea gave up the dead which were in 
it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were 
in them," which conveys the idea that the sea gave up 
the bodies of such as were drowned, and death or the 
grave gave up the bodies of such as were buried ; and 
hell or hades, the place of departed spirits — the unseen 
or hidden world — gave up the spirits that were in it; 
and the bodies and spirits being again united, consti- 
tuted a real resurrection or standing up again of those 
that were dead. And they are exhibited in the vision 
as representing themselves, because no other department 
of nature could furnish an analogous symbol. 

" And the books were opened." These books proba- 
bly represent the dispensations in which they had lived, 
and according to which they shall be judged ; for in the 
dispensations of God, are included all the rules of life 
and means of salvation afforded to men ; the neglect and 
20 



306 BOOKS OPENED. 

abuse of which will constitute their guilt and occasion 
their condemnation, and be followed by an endless con- 
sequence. We do not suppose the dead to be in an un- 
conscious state from their death until the resurrection, 
as some assert; but, on the contrary, we believe the 
spirits of the dead to be conscious, and though in their 
" unclothed" or disembodied state, subject to moral 
law : and as moral agents capable of improving their 
character and ameliorating their condition by obedience 
to the law, or on the contrary of rendering them worse 
by disobedience. In this sense we understand the words 
of Peter, that Christ " being put to death in the flesh, 
but quickened by the spirit, went and preached to the 
spirits in prison, which were formerly disobedient, when 
the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah :" 
1 Pet. iii. 18-20. And " For this cause was the gospel 
preached also to them that are dead, that they might 
indeed be judged according to men in the flesh, but live 
according to God in the spirit :" 1 Pet. iv. 6. But 
whatever improvement may be made in character and 
condition, it all comes within the limits of that endless 
consequence which flows from the deeds of their proba- 
tionary life in the flesh, according to the dispensation in 
which they lived. Excluded, on account of their unbe- 
lief and disobedience, from any part in the first resur- 
rection, they remain in the state of the dead until after 
the Millennium, and a final period is put to all probation 
in the flesh. And when at last they shall come forth, it 
will be in the resurrection of condemnation ; for all such 
will have been condemned as unworthy of the first resur- 
rection and the glory of the saints, and only fit to be 
subjected to the heavenly principalities. 

" And another book was opened, which is the book 
of life." This is probably a different book from that 
which is called the Lamb's book of life, in which, by 



THE JUDGMENT. 307 

reference to other passages of scripture, we find that the 
names of the saints are said to be written, and which 
secured them from any liability to the second death, or 
that punishment to which the disobedient will be liable 
after their resurrection from the dead : for this book 
seems now first to be opened for the purposes of judg- 
ment, whereas the Lamb's book of life was opened at 
the first resurrection. This book then relates only to 
the destiny of those who come forth in the resurrection 
of the unjust, and contains the names of such of them as 
shall not be cast into the lake of fire ; that is, of those 
who having been subjected to God by such means as 
were employed for that purpose in their disembodied 
state, shall be saved from that final and most terrible 
revelation of the wrath of God, called the second death. 
" And the dead were judged out of those things which 
were written in the books, according to their works" — 
" every man according to their works." It is to be 
observed that this principle of judgment obtains in all 
future rewards and punishments. All the saints are to 
be partakers of the first resurrection — all are to be made 
kings and priests unto God — all are to inherit glory ; 
but there will be different degrees of glory and honor in 
the kingdom of Christ, and these degrees will be distri- 
buted among the saints according to their works : it will 
be so also in regard to the subordinate rank conferred 
on the faithful Millennarians. And in relation to those 
who shall come forth in the resurrection of condemna- 
tion, all will be vessels unto dishonor ; but there will be 
different degrees of shame and contempt meted out to 
them according to their works. God will make a right- 
eous and wise discrimination between the different de- 
grees of crime and shades of character in the day of 
retribution. It will be impossible for any man to escape 
from the consequences of his conduct in this life. In 



308 THE LAKE OP FIRE. 

one way or other they will be as perpetual as his exist- 
ence. For the faithful will, in their different degrees of 
reward, have an eternal memento and consequence of 
their works ; and the wicked will have the same in their 
different degrees of punishment, and state of subjection. 
" And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire ; 
this is the second death. And whosoever was not found 
written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire." 
The lake of fire is a symbol, and that which it signifies 
is called the second death. But there is no analogy be- 
tween a lake of fire and a state of unconsciousness or 
annihilation. Hence the second death cannot be anni- 
hilation. A lake of fire is a symbol which signifies 
severe anguish and pain ; and it is therefore the symbol 
of that punishment which is to be inflicted upon the 
finally incorrigible for their personal transgressions, as 
the first death is the penalty for the sin of their repre- 
sentative head. The second death is the last exhibition 
of Divine wrath against the workers of iniquity. It is 
the dregs of the seventh vial : for in the seven vials is 
filled up or completed the wrath of God:" Rev. xv. 1. 
It is the ne plus ultra (no more beyond) of the Divine 
judgments in completing the time of the seventh trum- 
pet, in which the mystery of God shall be finished in the 
redemption of the world. It is the finale of the seven 
last plagues, and an effectual manifestation of Divine 
opposition to sin, by which all its political forms are to 
be destroyed and every intelligence subdued to the scep- 
tre of Jesus. It is employed to subdue the incorrigible 
and represents some punishment. It probably includes 
some bodily suffering, as it will be after the subjects of 
it are raised from the dead : but it is not easy to deter- 
mine its precise nature, inasmuch as fire is figuratively 
employed to set forth various things. Perhaps few, if 
any, would insist upon its being a lake of fire literally. 



THE SECOND DEATH. 309 

Its symbolic character is generally admitted : but the 
question is, what does it represent ? In scripture we 
find that GocUhimself is called a consuming fire. Heb. xii. 
29. Christ is compared to a refiner's fire, because he 
will use means to purify his people ; and it is said that 
he shall be revealed from heaven, in flaming fire, taking 
vengeance on the ungodly. Afflictions and calamities 
are called fires, because they are painful and are used to 
purify us. The word of God is called a fire, because it 
consumes error and purifies the thoughts. And benevo- 
lence toward an enemy is called heaping coals of fire on 
his head. In its different connections we are seldom at 
a loss to understand its meaning. When it represents a 
punishment it must be a severe and subduing one ; and 
in this place is such : it very likely includes both mental 
and bodily sufferings. It is only the incorrigibility of 
sinners which renders it necessary for God to proceed 
to punish at all ; and their persevering incorrigibility 
makes necessary the second death as the only means of 
their subjection to God's righteous government. 

The phrase " second death" indicates nothing adverse 
to this view. For as the first death comes upon all men 
for the sin of Adam their representative head, and is 
the penalty of that original transgression ; it behooves 
that the second death should be the penalty of personal 
transgression. Now as Adam's sin was imputed to all men 
to their condemnation; so Christ's obedience is imputed 
to all men to their justification : and as in Adam all die, 
so in Christ shall all be made alive. From the first 
death all will be raised, nor shall they die again, or 
suffer that penalty twice, for Christ's obedience is not 
imputed to them merely for a time. It is imputed to 
them absolutely and forever. But as Mediator between 
God and man, Christ sustains the office of the Great 
High Priest, and hath made, by the sacrifice of himself, 



S 



310 THE PUNISHMENT TO BE ON EARTH. 

an atonement for the sins of the world, so that faith in 
him is imputed for righteousness to every one that 
believeth. And all who believe in him are justified — 
their sins are forgiven — and they obtain part in the first 
resurrection, and shall not be hurt of the second death. 
The second death has no power on them, because their 
sins are forgiven, and they are saved from the penalty 
of their personal transgressions. And such believers as 
are alive and remain to the coming of Christ will not 
even suffer the penalty of the first death ; but be changed 
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and made im- 
mortal and incorruptible. So also all who shall prove 
faithful and obedient during the millennial dispensation 
will never die, but be saved from the first death and be 
exalted to subordinate rank in Christ's kingdom : and 
all who willingly submit themselves to him through the 
moral influences which may be exerted upon them during 
their disembodied state, will be exempted from the 
second death, and as soon as raised to life again be con- 
firmed in a voluntary subjection to Christ and his saints 
as the subjects of their government, and serve them for- 
ever. But all, who, having resisted the means employed 
of bringing them into subjection to the last, shall then 
be found incorrigible and disobedient, must suffer the 
penalty of their sins. Hence the Saviour said, " Agree 
with thine adversary quickly, while thou art in the way 
with him : lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to 
the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and 
thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, thou 
shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid 
the uttermost farthing :" Matt. v. 25, 26. 

Now the lake of fire, or second death, is to be on earth 
where Christ and his saints shall reign ; and the saints 
will be the executors of the Divine will in inflicting this 
punishment, for it is written, " If any man worship the 



EXECUTED BY THE SAINTS. 3H 

beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead 
or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the 
wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture, into 
the cup of his indignation : and he shall be tormented 
with fire and brimstone, in the presence of the holy 
angels, and in the presence of the Lamb ; and the smoke 
of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever :" Rev. 
xiv. 9-11. And again : " But the fearful and unbeliev- 
ing, and the abominable, and murderers, and whore- 
mongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall 
have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and 
brimstone, which is the second death :" Rev. xxi. 8. 
And the seventh angel, who represents the ministry by 
whom this punishment will be inflicted, said to John: 
" I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren the pro- 
phets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book:" 
from which it appears that the punishment thus sym- 
bolized will be inflicted by the saints. The same is 
referred to in Psalm cxlix. 1-9, where to execute ven- 
geance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the 
people ; to bind their kings in chains, and their nobles 
in fetters of iron ; to execute the judgment written, is 
said to be an honor conferred on all the saints. 

We find that the beast and false prophet, the devil 
himself, and death and hell shall all be cast into the lake 
of fire. What does this signify ? The beast and false 
prophet being taken alive and cast into the lake of fire 
before the commencement of the Millennium, indicates 
that the wicked rulers, civil and ecclesiastical, whom 
they represent at that time, shall then be subjected to 
the punishment symbolized by the lake of fire. They 
shall go into it immediately, without being subject to 
the first death or penalty of Adam's sin. The devil, 
which term or appellation may here include with the 
prince of the power of the air, all the evil angels, will be 



312 DESIGN OF PUNISHMENT. 

cast into it at the close of the little season in which he 
shall deceive the nations after the Millennium. And 
Death and Hell, here personified and used as symbols 
of all the wicked who shall be found incorrigible at the 
time of the last resurrection, shall be cast into it imme- 
diately after they are raised from the dead. And since 
by this punishment, those wicked rulers and their ad- 
herents, and all wicked intelligences, are to be subdued 
and subjected to the government of Christ and his 
saints, the lake of fire becomes the means of terminating 
those opposing organisms and conditions which hinder 
the full triumph of Christ. And this will be effected 
when every knee shall bow to Christ and every tongue 
shall confess that be is Lord, to the glory of God the 
Father. Until that time they will still appear to exist 
in those who shall suffer that punishment. Hence it is 
said that the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for- 
ever and ever, or unto the ages of ages. 

It has been already intimated, that the design of this 
punishment is to subdue the stubborn and rebellious and 
bring them into willing subjection to the law of Christ, 
that they may be reconciled to God. And this must be 
the design, unless God himself can change : for it is 
written that the " Lord will not cast off forever ; but 
though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion 
according to the multitude of his mercies. For he doth 
not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men :" 
Lam. iii. 31-33. And, " he will not always chide, neither 
will he keep his anger forever :" Psl. ciii. 9. And Paul 
tells us that " the mystery of his will, according to 
his good pleasure, which he purposed in himself," (which 
mystery is to be finished by the seventh trumpet,) " is, 
that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he might 
gather together in one," (or unite under one head) " all 
things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which 



DESIGN OF PUNISHMENT. 313 

are on the earth; even in him :" Eph. i. 9, 10. "And 
therefore it hath pleased the Father that in him should 
all fullness dwell; and, having made peace' by the blood 
of his cross, bylfim to reconcile all things unto himself, 
whether they be things on earth or things in heaven :" 
Col. i. 19, 20 And for this purpose the Father hath 
set him over the works of his hands, and hath given him 
all power in heaven and on earth — a power " by which 
he is able also to subdue all things unto himself:" 
Phil. iii. 21. And this we are assured must be done, 
for the promise is that all shall be subdued unto him ; 
all shall be put under his feet. For in that he hath put 
all things in subjection under him, he left nothing that 
is not put under him. And the only exception to this 
universal subjection is the Father himself, who put all 
things under him. The Father alone is greater than 
the Son ; and hath set him at his own right hand in the 
heavenly places ; far above all principality and power 
and might and dominion, and every name that is named, 
not only in this world, but also in that which is to come ; 
and hath put all things under his feet. Eph. i. 20-22. 
And hath given him a name that is above every name, 
the Father only excepted, that at the name of Jesus, 
every knee should bow of those in heaven and those on 
earth and those under the earth — a mode of expression 
designed to embrace all intelligences ; and that every 
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the 
glory of God the Father. Phil. ii. 9-11. 

Hence we learn that to Christ all must be subdued. 
And the punishment symbolized by the lake of fire, is 
the last manifestation of Divine wrath in the subjection 
of a rebel world to God. It must therefore be effectual 
in subduing all who are cast into it. And thus all being 
made willing in their subjection to Christ and his saints, 



314 THE ETERNAL STATES. 

shall at last yield a cheerful obedience to his laws, and 
be confirmed in that condition. 

It may be asked, Does not this view militate against 
the perpetuity of future rewards and punishments ? 
I answer, No : for the glorified saints of God will, in 
their condition of glory and honor, as kings and priests, 
have a reward as perpetual as their existence itself: and 
each of them in an appropriate degree of glory will have 
a reward according to his works. And the rest of man- 
kind in their condition of subjection and servitude will 
have an endless punishment: and each one in his appro- 
priate state or degree of dishonor will be everlastingly 
sensible that it is according to his desert. Their recon- 
ciliation to God does not imply that they are exempted 
from all punishment, though they will be free from tor- 
ment and pain ; but only that they will be reconciled to 
that state of subjection in which they will be placed, and 
which will be the penalty of their unbelief and rejection 
of Christ. Their punishment after subjection will con- 
sist chiefly in a loss of that glory and blessedness which 
is promised to believers in Christ, without the possibility 
of ever being able to recover it. 



DISCOURSE TWENTY-SIXTH. 



THE CONSUMMATION OF MEDIATION.— GOD'S ETER- 
NAL PURPOSE — SUBJECTION AND RECONCILIA- 
TION OF ALL THINGS— THE SON SUBJECT TO THE 
FATHER— GOD ALL IN ALL. 



And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the 
Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, 
that God may be all in all. — 1 Con. xv. 28. 

No reasonable person will question the position that 
in the creation of the universe God had an ultimate pur- 
pose in view, worthy of his own nature and character. 
None but an infinitely wise, benevolent, and righteous 
design could have possessed the eternal mind. And he 
cannot deny himself; nor can he be compelled by a 
necessity out of himself to act contrary to his na- 
ture. To act agreeably to his nature is not necessity 
but freedom. God does nothing capriciously — nothing 
unworthy of his infinite perfections — nothing to compro- 
mise the benevolence and rectitude of his character. 
And when he formed the universe, when he created 
angels and men, it was not without a perfect insight 
into their moral nature — the necessity of trial to develop 
their character — a foreknowlege of their conduct, whether 
good or evil — and a thorough acquaintance with all the 
means and agencies requisite to restrain, control and 
subdue them to his will, without infringing upon their 
free agency, or destroying their accountability. Before 
he gave birth to the present system of nature, all possi- 
ble schemes of moral government were before his mind ; 
involving all manner of condition, all modes of trial — all 
sorts of circumstances — all means of control — all moral 

(315) 



316 BEST POSSIBLE SYSTEM. 

influences — all kinds of interference, and all degrees of 
restraint ; and being infinite in goodness he hath chosen 
the best. 

It may be asked, Could not God have devised a sys- 
tem of moral agency, from which sin and misery would 
have been entirely excluded, and by which as high a de- 
gree of glory and felicity could have been conferred on 
his creatures as will result from the present system ? 
With profound reverence for the nature and character 
of God I answer, No — else this is not the best possible 
system ; and if this be not the best possible system, then 
God might have chosen a better ; and if he might have 
chosen a better, he must have preferred this to a better, 
and hence must have preferred, in his creatures, sin to 
holiness — misery to happiness — death to life. But this 
would be to libel the Divine character. Those who 
maintain the affirmative of this question, take for granted 
that personal holiness may be produced in moral agents 
by a direct act of God, by some operation of his power ; 
that trial was unnecessary ; or if necessary, might have 
been made without hazard. Or, in other words, that 
there may be employed in the development of moral cha- 
racter, and in the confirmation of intelligent beings in 
uprightness, such preponderating influences on the side 
of virtue as to exert an absolute dominion over the will, 
and necessarily secure its obedience. But this would be 
to destroy the will itself : for to rob it of freedom is to 
destroy it. Freedom is an essential property of will. 
Again, such a hypothesis supposes that God could have 
made intelligent moral agents in a better image than his 
own, and have placed them in a better condition than he 
did — which is not only dishonoring to God, but a flat 
denial of the scriptures, which assert that his works are 
perfect, Deut. xxxii. 4 ; and that when he saw all that 
he had made, behold they were very good : Gen. i. 31. 



ETERNAL PURPOSE. 3 It 

Our view is that God made bis intelligent creatures 
after the very best model — his own image and likeness ; 
and adjusted their trial on the very best principle and 
under the very best circumstances, with power to act as 
they pleased — to obey or transgress ; and that fore- 
knowing that they would under the best that could be 
done for them, still transgress, he has made the very 
best provision for their recovery from sin and its conse- 
quences, adapted to secure to all who believe in his Son 
Jesus Christ and obey him, glory and honor in being 
made kings and priests in his future government of the 
world ; and to secure the subjection and reconciliation 
of all the rest, ultimately, to him under the administra- 
tion of the saints. This, as the final result, is called his 
eternal purpose which he purposed in himself, and to 
which frequent reference is made in the scriptures, and 
in such terms as to remove all doubt of the benevolence 
and rectitude of the Divine character. This purpose is 
worthy of his own immutable nature, and in its consum- 
mation will unfold to every intelligent being in the uni- 
verse that God is Love. 

This purpose is expressed in the context by the 
phrase "for he hath put all things under his feet," which 
the apostle says means that all things shall be subdued 
to Christ. This is further elucidated by the following 
quotations, in which the purpose of God is set forth : 
In Eph. i. 9, 10, Paul says that God has " made known 
unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good 
pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself; that in the 
dispensation of the fullness of times, he might gather 
together in one all things in Christ, both which are in 
heaven and which are on earth; even in him.' , By 
gathering together in one we are to understand that all 
are to be brought under one government, of which Christ 
is the head, and that all are to obey him in their several 



818 church of first born. 

relations ; as he further says in verses 20-23 t that God 
" having raised up Christ from the dead, set him at his 
own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all 
principality and power and might and dominion, and 
every name that is named, not only in this world, but 
also in that which is to come ; and hath put all things un- 
der his feet, and gave him to be the Head over all things 
to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that 
filleth all in all." And Christ himself declared after his 
resurrection that all power in heaven and earth was 
given into his hands : Matt, xxviii. 18. 

The church of the first born, composed of all who be* 
lieve in Christ from the fall of Adam unto Christ's 
second advent, are chosen to be with Christ a peculiar 
and suitable agency in effecting the subjection and 
reconciliation of all things to him : they first, having 
been by the gospel conformed in spirit to Christ, and 
by the first resurrection glorified with him, and made a 
peculiar people, zealous of good works. This the apos- 
tle shows in Eph. iii. 9-11 : " And to make all men see 
what is the fellowship of the mystery which from the be- 
ginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created 
all things by Jesus Christ ; to the intent that now unto 
the principalities and powers in heavenly places, might 
be known by the church, the manifold wisdom of God ; 
according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in 
Christ Jesus our Lord." The church is here spoken of 
as an agency for the effecting of certain objects in accord- 
ance with the eternal purpose of God in Christ. And this 
was fully implied in the promise to Abraham, the father 
of the faithful : " And in thy seed shall all the families 
of the earth be blessed," which includes all believers 
as a spiritual seed along with Christ, who is pre-emi- 
nently the seed : for it is written, "If ye be Christ's, 
then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the 



DISTINCTION BETWEEN CHURCH AND WORLD, 319 

promise/' Hence the saints are reckoned as a spiritual 
seed — the seed of faith— in whom, as a suitable agency, 
all the families of the earth shall be blessed. And this 
promise will be fulfilled in the dispensation of the fullness 
of times, when he shall gather together in one all things 
in Christ. To this also our Saviour evidently has refer- 
ence in his sacerdotal prayer, John xvii., in which he 
prays for them whom the Father had given him out of 
the world, that is, for his disciples j and for all that 
should believe on him through their word, that is, for 
the whole church, that they might be kept from the evil 
that is in the world, that they might be sanctified through 
the truth, and that they might all be one; "as thou, 
Father," said he, " art in me, and I in thee, that they also 
may be one in us ; that the world may believe that thou 
hast sent me." In this prayer Christ first prays for his 
church and not for the world, showing that he made a 
distinction between those whom the Father had given 
him out of a World, and the world itself. And he prays 
for the perfection and glory of the church, not for the 
sake of the church alone, but that through the church, 
when made one, completed, perfected and glorified, the 
world might believe on him. In fulfillment of this pur- 
pose ultimately the world, as distinguished from the 
church, will be brought to believe in Christ and submit 
to Christ. This then is comprehended in the eternal 
purpose. The subjection and reconciliation of all is to 
be the final issue of the scheme of redemption. Hence 
Paul says that he, Christ, is the Saviour of all iMEN, 
but specially of THEM THAT BELIEVE. Here 
them that believe are a class by themselves, who will be 
saved in a special manner, or to a superior degree — a 
degree exceeding that of the rest of mankind ; and this 
class is undoubtedly the saints. Hence John says, " He 
is the propitiation for our sins," that is for the sins of 



320 THE GREAT SALVATION. 

believers, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the 
whole ivorld." 

The salvation of believers in Christ according to the 
gospel is that great salvation, which is the reward of all 
the faithful followers of Christ, who during this state of 
probation, believe in and obey him. It is the first 
resurrection- — the glorified nature — the exalted condi- 
tion — the being made kings and priests in the everlast- 
ing kingdom of Christ. To this great salvation none 
shall attain but the saints. This is the special salvation. 
The salvation of the rest of mankind will consist in 
redemption from all unrighteous dominion, and subjec- 
tion to the government of Christ and his saints. This 
is shown in the vision of Daniel vii. 9-14, in which 
the Ancient of Days represents Christ, and one like the 
Son of Man brought near before him represents the glo- 
rified saints. And the bestowment on the one like the 
Son of Man of dominion and glory and a kingdom, that 
all people, nations and languages should serve him, 
represents the investiture of the saints with associate 
authority along with Christ in the possession of the 
kingdom and dominion and greatness of the kingdom 
under the whole heaven, as is proved by the interpreta- 
tion of the vision, verses 22-2*7. Nothing is more clearly 
taught in this vision than the subjection of the whole 
world to the government of Christ and his saints. And 
this is evidently the meaning and application of the 
apostle's figure in 2 Tim. ii. 20, 21. The great house 
signifies the kingdom of God : the vessels of gold are 
the saints, who shall be glorified and exalted to be kings 
and priests ; the vessels of silver may signify the faithful 
Millennarians, who at the end of that dispensation will 
be exalted to subordinate rank and glory ; and the ves- 
sels of wood, earth and stone are the disobedient of all 
the dispensations, who shall be finally subjected to the 



SALVATION NOT INDISCRIMINATE. 321 

government of Christ and his saints. The saints and 
faithful Millennarians will be in their respective spheres 
ressels unto honor, and all the rest will be vessels unto 
dishonor. — -- 

I do not hold to an indiscriminate salvation — such as 
is taught by Universalists or Restorationists — who main- 
tain that all mankind are to be exalted to like glory and 
blessedness, though perhaps differing in degree. I hold 
to such a salvation as, in the reconciliation of all to God, 
metes out to every man a reward according to his works. 
Honor, glory and everlasting dominion to the saints. 
Dishonor, shame and subjection to all who are during 
their present probation unbelieving and disobedient. 
But I maintain, according to the scriptures, " that at 
the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, of those in 
heaven, and those in earth, and those under the earth; 
and that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is 
Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Phil. ii. 10, 11. 

The term subjection imports, as before remarked, that 
all shall be brought under the government of Christ, 
according to the promise of God that he will make all 
his enemies his footstool. But to subdue in this con- 
nection, also imports reconciliation, as we find by Col. i. 
18-20. And he, I e. Christ, is the Head of the body 
the Church : who is the beginning, the first born from 
the dead ; that in all things he might have the pre- 
eminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should 
all fullness dwell : and having made peace by the blood 
of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself: 
by him I say, whether they be things on earth or things 
in heaven." Hence it is said that God is in Christ re- 
conciling the world unto himself, not imputing unto 
them their trespasses. 2 Cor. v. 19. Reconciliation and 
atonement mean the same thing. The same word is 
used in the original. The variation exists only iu the 
21 



322 WORK OP CHRIST. 

translation. The term signifies to make one, or to bring 
into a covenant of peace those who were at enmity. 
This is what God has been doing ever since the fall ; 
and what he is still doing ; and what he will continue to 
do, until all things are reconciled to him, whether they 
be things in heaven or things on earth. By things in 
heaven may be understood angelic beings, principalities 
and powers, who kept not their first estate, but left their 
own habitation ; and by things on earth may be meant 
human beings who have fallen into sin, and become 
estranged from God. 

By being reconciled to God I do not understand that 
all are to be raised to the same glory and blessedness, 
I have already remarked that in the future adjudication 
of all things, there will be a meting put to each one ac- 
cording to his deeds. Hence reconciliation must mean 
a peaceful submission and acquiescence in whatever posi- 
tion or condition an infinitely wise, good and just Being 
shall assign to each. And all will be at last convinced 
that their subjection to Christ and his saints is the very 
best thing that God could do for them ; and hence they 
shall willingly submit to their rule and government. 

The work of Christ as Mediator is, then, as we learn 
from scripture, the subjection and reconciliation of all 
things to God. This is the work which the Father hath 
given him to do. This is the eternal purpose, the im- 
mutable will of God, and for its accomplishment he hath 
invested his Son with all power in heaven and on earth ; 
and made him the head over all. And he shall not fail 
nor be discouraged till he have set judgment in the 
earth, and the isles shall wait for his law. In prose- 
cuting this work he fir at redeems those who believe in 
and obey him during this probationary state, and to 
whom is promised the glory and dominion in the world 
to come. They are hence called a kind of first fruits of 



SUBJECTION OF CHRIST. 323 

his creatures, and shall constitute the church of the first 
born, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, and shall 
be finally associated with him in the government of the 
world. This will be effected at the close of this dis- 
pensation, when the saints will be raised, changed and 
glorified. 

He will then, as the Son of David, establish his king- 
dom over the nations of the earth, and the saints, as 
kings and priests, shall reign with him a thousand years, 
during which he will, second, redeem to himself a people 
from that dispensation, who, for their steadfastness in 
the last trial, shall be rewarded with subordinate rank 
in the succeeding government of the world — a rank be- 
tween that of the saints as kings and priests, and that 
of the subjects. 

And, finally, he will raise the dead of all dispensa- 
tions, not previously raised, and employ means in his 
government to subdue and reconcile them to God as 
subjects of his kingdom. And when, third, he shall 
have effected this end or consummation ; when all things 
shall be subdued to him, then shall he also, himself, be 
subject to him that put all things under him, that God 
may be all in all. Then every intelligent mind will be 
made acquainted with the Father as revealed by the 
Son, and all shall know the Son as the only begotten of 
the Father, in his nature, character, and relations. The 
mystery of the Divine nature, manifestations and govern- 
ment will be completely unfolded ; and there will thence 
be no further occasion for the Son to represent the 
Father, for all shall know the Father, though an invisi- 
ble Spirit, by his dwelling in them. And the Son will 
no longer reign as Supreme, but as the heir of all 
things, and his mediatorial relations will be fully and 
universally understood. The Son has always been sub 
ject to the Father — has delighted to do his will, and to 



324 SUBJECTION OF CHRIST. 

honor him ; but there was a necessity arising out of the 
sin and ignorance of his creatures, as long as they con- 
tinued in rebellion against him, that in carrying on the 
administration of the Divine government over the world, 
he should be vested with supreme authority, and should 
appear as God. But he did not assume this — and he 
did not thereby rob God of his glory ; for it was his 
right so to appear, being the representative of the 
Father, by the authority of God himself. But when all 
shall be redeemed and reconciled in accordance with the 
ages and dispensations of grace, and the government of 
God shall be unchangeably established, and every intel- 
ligence shall be brought to yield a willing and cheerful 
obedience to his laws ; when every knee shall bow to 
him, and every tongue confess that he is Lord to the 
glory of God the Father, then the necessity for such a 
measure will no longer exist, and the subjection of the 
Son shall be known to every creature, and God shall be 
all in all. 

But though God will be known by his intelligent 
creatures, yet being a spirit, without body or parts, he 
will not be seen by them. He will be known as the 
invisible God, and will still be personally manifested only 
through his Son Jesus Christ, who is the brightness of 
his glory and express image of his person. Jesus said, 
"It is written in the prophets, And they shall all be 
taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard 
and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me. Not 
that any man hath seen the Father, save he that is of 
God, he hath seen the Father :" John vi. 45, 46. Here 
we learn that Jesus, the Son of God, is alone possessed 
of that wonderful consciousness imported by the phrase, 
" hath seen the Father." And who has not been struck 
with admiration at the manner in which he speaks of his 
relation to the Father ; as being in the bosom of the 



GOD MANIFEST BY CHRIST. 325 

Father ; as having had glory with him before the world 
was; as having come forth from him into the world, 
and as leaving the world and returning to the Father ; 
as having received all his doctrines from him, and as 
performing all his works by him ; as being the special 
object of the Father's love, and as always doing those 
things which please him ? 

All our knowledge of God is obtained through the 
Son ; for even the works of God, which make known to 
us his eternal power and Godhead, were effected by the 
Son : for without him was not any thing made that is 
made. And Jesus said, " Neither knoweth any man 
the Father, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will 
reveal him." And when Philip said to him, " Show us 
the Father and it sufficeth us." He answered, " Have I 
been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known 
me, Philip ? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; 
and how sayest thou then, show us the Father? Be- 
lievest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father 
in me ? The words that I speak unto you I speak not 
of myself; but the Father that dwelleth in me he doth 
the works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the 
Father in me : or else believe me for the very work's 
sake :" John xiv. 8-11. And in the future world of 
glory, we shall only see the Father as manifested by the 
Son ; and shall give all honor to the Father by the Son : 
for God shall be all in all. 

" Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abun- 
dantly above all that we ask or think, according to 
the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the 
church by Jesus Christ, throughout all ages, world with- 
out end. Amen." 



CONCLUSION. 

In the foregoing Discourses is presented a view of the 
plan of redemption, embracing the following leading 
characteristics : 

First. That the scriptures of truth contain a complete 
revelation of the scheme of God's moral government over 
the world, in relation to the trial of his intelligent crea- 
tures ; the provision rendered necessary by their defec- 
tion from righteousness, and which he hath made for 
their recovery from sin, and reconciliation unto himself; 
and the manner in which redemption is carried on and 
shall be consummated. 

Second. That, in the trial of man, Adam was the 
representative of his race, in a covenant of works, which 
insured to him the life of all his posterity and the govern- 
ment of the world on condition of his obedience ; and 
had he been faithful would have insured to all his obe- 
dient posterity a participation with him in the glory of 
his kingdom, and the subjection of the disobedient to 
their government. That the obedient would have been 
glorified or become as gods, divine persons ; and the 
disobedient would have still lived in natural flesh. But 
the penalty of his disobedience, which God foresaw, was 
death to himself and all his race, whom he represented ; 
and his deposition from the dominion entrusted to him. 

Third. That, foreseeing the fall of man, and the 
necessity arising therefrom for a second covenant, and a 
gecond representative man to save the human race from 
the ruin of the fall, God gave his only begotten Son, 
Jesus Christ, in the covenant of grace, to sustain that 
relation, and by his obedience insure the justification 
unto life of all men ; that as in Adam all die, even so in 
(326) 



LEADING CHARACTERISTICS. 327 

Christ shall all be made alive. And, further, by making 
an atonement for sin by the offering of himself once for 
all, insure to them that believe in him the pardon of all 
their sins, a firsTand glorious resurrection from the dead, 
and a participation with him in the future government 
of the world, which is transferred to him as the second 
Adam. And that the unbelieving, of all dispensations, 
shall at last, being raised from the dead, be subdued to 
their government : so that the original design contem- 
plated by the covenant of works shall be .effected by the 
oovenant of grace. 

Fourth. That to vindicate the benevolence and recti- 
tude of the Divine government, and demonstrate the 
necessity of this remedial interposition, it was necessary 
that man should have a fair trial in the flesh as to the 
practicability of its sanctification, and his capability, 
under suitable moral means and influences, of recovery 
from the ruin of the fall, and of investiture with the 
government of the world. Hence the institution of 
different dispensations, under different physical and poli- 
tical arrangements and religious institutions, until the 
first advent of Christ in the flesh. All of which however 
have proved that flesh and blood cannot inherit the king- 
dom of God ; and that the government of the world can- 
not be intrusted to any nation or people in natural flesh. 

Fifth. That during the trial of man in the flesh before 
the coming of Christ, the prophetic word held out a glo- 
rious hope of salvation to man ; and by this instru- 
mentality, as well as by the gospel of the kingdom since, 
God is taking out of the world a people for his name, 
consisting of all who, believing in Christ with the heart 
unto righteousness, are called to be saints, and shall, by 
the first resurrection and translation, be glorified with 
Christ at his coming, that they may reign with him. 

Sixth. That the second advent of Christ will be cha- 



328 LEADING CHARACTERISTICS. 

racterized by two stages. The first, at the close of this 
dispensation, when a sufficient number of the Jews shall 
be restored to their own land to resume their nationality 
and obtain the government again at the termination of 
the gentile domination. Then the dead saints of God 
shall be raised, the living changed, and both caught up 
together to meet the Lord in the air. Another dis- 
pensation will then ensue for the trial of the nations with 
respect to their becoming the subjects of the kingdom 
of Israel, to be established at the second stage of Christ's 
advent, when he will come from the air to the earth, and 
restore the tabernacle of David, &c. That during the 
time the saints will be in the air with the Lord, the 
Jews, being generally restored to their own land, will 
become a great and wealthy nation ; sufficiently so to 
excite the envy and cupidity of the nations, who shall 
come against them to battle, as predicted in Ezek. xxxviii. 
8-23, Zech. xiv. 1-5, and Rev. xix. 19-21; which battle 
shall be terminated by the coming of the Lord and all 
his saints with him to rescue the Jews and destroy those 
nations. 

Seventh. That at the second stage of Christ's coming 
he will judge the nations, Matt. xxv. 31-46 — cut off and 
punish the wicked, and spare and subdue the others to 
his government — introduce the Millennium, and reign as 
the Messiah upon David's throne. After which a trial 
will be given to the subjects of his kingdom to test their 
allegiance to him : — a rebellion will ensue, which will be 
ended by the consumption of the rebel hosts with fire 
from heaven — the faithful Millennarians will be rewarded 
with subordinate rank in his kingdom. 

Eighth. The way will then be prepared for the resur- 
rection and subjection of the unjust, including the unbe- 
lievers of all dispensations ; and the incorrigible among 
them will be punished, as symbolized, by their being cast 



LEADING CHARACTERISTICS. 329 

into the lake of fire, until they shall voluntarily submit to 
his government, and become reconciled to God in that 
state of subjection ; and every knee shall bow to him and 
every tongue confess that he is Lord to the glory of God 
the Father. 

Ninth. That the saints in their immortal and glorified 
condition as kings and priests shall have an everlasting 
reward ; and that the unbelieving or unjust in their state 
of subjection in natural bodies shall have an everlasting 
punishment — although they will be under the government 
of Christ and his saints and will be redeemed from sin 
and misery, and made as happy as their condition will 
admit of. 

Tenth. That when all shall be subjected and recon- 
ciled, according to the eternal purpose of God, the Son 
himself, having completed the work of mediation, having 
fully manifested the Father to all intelligences, will no 
longer need to appear as God the Father, but will be 
known as subject to the Father, and God shall be all 
in all. 



INDEX 



Page 

Introduction, 3 

Discourse First. Prophecy : 2 Pet. i. 19, 7 

Its intrinsic character, 8 

Study of prophecy, 11 

Utility of prophecy, 13 

Discourse Second. Interpretation : 2 Pet. i. 20, 21, ... 17 

General scope and tenor, 21 

Grammatical construction, 22 

Language, direct 24 

figurative, 25 

Symbols, 26 

Necessity of prayer, 26 

Discourse Third. General scheme : Luke xxiv. 25-27. 28 

Christ and his work 29 

First primary revelation, 30 

Second primary revelation, 31 

Third primary revelation, 34 

Discourse Fourth. Dominion of Christ: Heb. ii. 5-9,. 38 

Originally given to Adam, 39 

Transferred to Christ, 40 

World to come, 41 

Angelic ministration, 42 

Jesus crowned, 43 

Christ to return, 44 

His dominion anticipated, 45 

Discourse Fifth. Enoch's prophecy : Jude, 14, 15, 47 

Its occasion, 48 

The event predicted 49 

(331) 



332 INDEX. 

Page 

The numeral seven, 50 

The seventh Millennary, 51 

The saints share in it, 52 

The judgment, 53 

Punishment of the nations, 54 

Destruction of unrighteous domination, 55 

Discourse Sixth. Physical changes : Heb. i. 10-12, . . 57 

The original condition, 57 

The curse, 58 

Heavens and earth,. 60 

The deluge, 62 

Heavens and earth that are now, 64 

The conflagration, 66 

New heavens and earth, 67 

Discourse Seventh. Political changes: Heb. xii. 26-29, 79 

Adamic constitution, 71 

Patriarchal, 72 

Monarchial, 73 

Noah's prophecy, 74 

Shem's kingdom, 75 

Nimrod's rebellion, 76 

Kingdom of Christ, 79 

Discourse Eighth. Priesthood of Christ: Heb. vii. 21, 81 

Order of Melchisedek, 82 

Divine appointment, 84 

Not of the Aaronic order, 85 

Duration, 86 

Dignity, 88 

Christ a King-Priest, 90 

Discourse Ninth. The Covenant of Promise: Rom. iv. 

13-17, 92 

Its nature, 93 

Its heirs, 95 

Its fulfillment, 100 

Discourse Tenth. Kingdom of Christ as Son of David, 

Luke i. 30-33, 105 

Davidic covenant, 106 

The son of David, 107 



INDEX. 333 

Page 

The kingdom, 110 

Its restoration, 112 

Its extent and character, 114 

Duration, 115 

Discourse Eleventh. First Advent of Christ : Ileb. ix. 

26 116 

The Sdiloh, 117 

The Immanuel, 120 

The Ruler in Israel, 121 

His birth-place, 122 

His condition and sufferings, 123 

His resurrection, 125 

His exaltation, 126 

Discourse Twelfth. Aspect of the kingdom to the Jews 

at his first advent: Matt. xxii. 1-10, 129 

Kingdom of heaven, 130 

Offered to the Jews, 131 

Calling of the gentiles, 136 

Kingdom given to the saints, 137 

Millennium, 139 

Discourse Thirteenth. The character and relations of 

the present time : Rom. xiii. 11, 12, 141 

The night, 143 

The season, 144 

The day 145 

Discourse Fourteenth. The first stage of the second 

advent : Rev. xvi. 15, 152 

Sixth vial period, 153 

Coming of Christ 155 

First stage, 156 

Manner, 158 

Design, 1 59 

Effects, 160 

Harvest, 161 

Discourse Fifteenth. The first resurrection : IThes. iv. 

16, 17, 164 

Discourse Sixteenth. The dispensation of his coming: 

Acts xv. 16, 17, 176 



334 INDEX. 

Page 

An intervening age, 177 

One of transition, 178 

Restoration of Judaism, 179 

Parable of the virgins, 180 

The everlasting gospel, 187 

A time of judgment, 189 

Discourse Seventeenth. The restoration of Israel, 

Rom. xi. 25,29, 192 

Discourse Eighteenth. The restoration of Israel: 

Rom. xi. 25, 29, 205 

First stage or partial restoration of Judah,. . 206 
Second stage or general restoration of Judah, 209 
Third stage or complete restoration of Judah 
and of all Israel, 223 

Discourse Nineteenth. The Judgment: 2 Thes. i. 6- 

10, 225 

Application of the term 220 

Parable of the sheep and goats, 230 

Parallel prophecies, 234 

Discourse Twentieth. The Judgment: 2 Thes. i. 6-10, 239 

At Christ's coming, 240 

Concerning the saints, 241 

Concerning the wicked, 243 

Their consciousness, 244 

Excluded from the first resurrection, 249 

The saints raised and glorified, 248 

Discourse Twenty-First. Doom of the Papacy: Rev. 

xix. 1-3, 251 

The papacy, 251 

Great red dragon, 254 

Ten horned beast, 255 

Scarlet colored beast, 256 

Babylon the great, 257 

End of worldly power, 258 

Fall of Babylon 259 

Her judgments, 260 

Coming of Christ, 261 

Worldly power overthrown, 263 



INDEX. 335 

Page 

Discourse Twenty-Second. Eternal judgment: Heb.vi. 2, 265 

Adam's sovereignty transferred to Christ, 205 

Intervening judgments, 266 

The saints judged, 267 

The nations tried, 268 

Christ's reign a judgment, 269 

Testimony from the Psalms. 270 

Testimony from Isaiah, 271 

Eternal judgment, 272 

The nations subdued, 274 

Discourse Twenty-Third. The Millennium : Rev. xx. 

1-6, 276 

The dragon bound, 279 

The bottomless pit, 280 

Reign of the saints, 282 

Promises, 284 

The curse removed, 285 

Spiritual blessings, 286 

The symbol city 288 

State of natural Israel, 289 

The land of promise, 290 

Discourse Twenty-Fourth. The last rebellion : Rev. 

xx. 7-10, 291 

Satan restrained, 292 

Satan loosed, 294 

The time of trial, 296 

The rebels destroyed 297 

Satan punished, 298 

Concerning the rebellion, 299 

Destruction by fire, 300 

The faithful rewarded, 301 

Discourse Twenty-Fifth. Resurrection of the unjust: 

Rev. xx. 11-15, 303 

Jesus the Judge, 304 

Books opened, 305 

The lake of fire, 308 

The place of punishment, 310 

Design of punishment, 312 



336 INDEX. 

Page 
Discourse Twenty-Sixth. Consummation of mediation: 

1 Cor. xv. 28, 315 

Best possible system, 316 

The eternal purpose, 317 

Church and world, 318 

Great salvation 320 

Salvation not indiscriminate, 321 

Work of Christ, 322 

Subjection of Christ, 323 

God manifest by Christ, 325 

Conclusion. Leading characteristics, 326 



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